
Class I i 

Book ^^ 

(kpightlJ? 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSnV 



*fv,- 






THE JACK OF ALL TRADES 

OR 

NEW IDEAS FOR AMERICAN BOYS 



Books by Daniel C, Beard 

THE JACK OF ALL TRADES ; or, New Ideas 
FOR American Boys. Profusely Illustrated by 
the Author. Square 8vo. ^2.00. 

THE OUTDOOR HANDY BOOK, for Play- 
ground, Field and Forest. With 300 Illus- 
trations by the Author. Neiv Edition. Square 
8vo. $2.00. 

THE AMERICAN BOY'S HANDY BOOK; 

or, What to Do and How to Do It. With 
more than 300 Illustrations by the Author. 
Square 8vo. ^5^2. 00. 



By the Misses Beard 
the american girl's handy book; 

or. How TO Amuse Yourself and Others. 
With more than 300 Illustrations. Neiv and 
Enlarged Edition. Square 8vo. $2.00. 




IkEjAGK 

Of : AtL ThADES 




BY 

D.C.Beard 

New York 



Charles 
Scribner's 
Sons. 

1900 




47052 





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SEP 14 1900 




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OfiDtfi DIVISION, 








SEP 20 1900 








S0051 






Copyright, 1900, by 




CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 





PREFACE. 

It was not the author's original intention to produce a 
series of boys' books. On the contrary, he expected that 
his work in this line would begin and end with " The 
American Boy's Handy Book." 

The great popularity of that book is a constant source 
of gratification and pleasure to the author ; but he was not 
a little surprised and embarrassed when he discovered 
that in place of satisfying the lads he had only whetted 
their appetite for more material in the same line. Letters 
from boys in many parts of the British Provinces, and from 
all over the United States, convinced the writer that he had 
yet work to do for them, and the revised and enlarged 
edition of " The American Boy's Handy Book" was issued. 
After a brief period of time the quaintly worded letters 
in boyish handwriting began again to increase the mail 
left at the author's studio, and this time he laid aside his 
brush and pencil to produce " The Outdoor Handy Book." 

It is hoped that the present demand for new ideas for 
boys will be fully satisfied by ** The Jack of All Trades." 
To the best of the author's knowledge and belief there is 
not a thing described in this book which has not been 
proved practical by the experiments of himself or some boy 



VI Preface, 



or boys. Parts of this book have appeared in various 
periodicals, but all these chapters have been revised, and 
enlarged. 

It is now a generally accepted truth that the so-called 
skill of the hand is in reality the skill of a trained mind. 
The necessity, in work or play, of constantly overcoming 
new obstacles and solving new problems, develops a strong 
and normal mind and body. There can be little doubt that 
the rude schooling and hard knocks of a pioneer's life re- 
juvenated our race and developed those qualities in the 
characters of Americans, without which Washington would 
have been but a country gentleman and Lincoln a village 
store-keeper. Had little Abe Lincoln been reared under 
the care of a foreign woman with cap and ribbons (i,e. a 
French nurse), his strong manly character would never 
have been developed and our country would have lost one 
of its grandest patriots and history its most unique figure. 

Aside from these vitally important facts, art demands 
that our youth should be encouraged to do things for them- 
selves, to produce things by their own labor. The most 
finished product of the machine cannot appeal to the heart 
of a real artist as does some useful and homely object 
which still bears the marks of its maker's hands. 

For these reasons the author hopes that parents will 
allow their boys to be boyish boys ; and in order to keep 
them out of mischief they will cater to the lads' natural and 
healthy desire for entertainment by encouraging them in 
all rational projects and supplying them with tools and 



Preface, vii 



materials, so that the boys may ail become juvenile Jacks 
of All Trades. 

It is the object of the author, in the chapters devoted to 
animal life, to teach the boys to look upon all animals with 
the same thoughtful kindness with which they might view 
their own undeveloped brothers. 

To Harper & Brothers, and to The Ladies^ Home Journal 
the thanks of the author are due for the careful preserva- 
tion and return of such original drawings as were used by 
them in their respective publications, and without which 
this work would be incomplete. 

D. C. B. 

Flushing, June i, 1900. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 
FAIR WEATHER IDEAS. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Tree-Top Club Houses 3 

The River Rats, 5 ; A Tree-top Retreat, 6 ; The Secret Grape-vine Route, 
7 ; A Club-house in the Tree-tops, 8 ; A Tw^o-tree House, 9 ; How to 
Build the Foundation, 14 ; The One-tree House, 16 ; A Three- and 
Four-tree Foundation, 18. 

CHAPTER II. 
Hunting Without a Gun 19 

How to Capture and Trap Small Live Animals, 19; Rodents or Gnaw- 
ers, 21 ; A Smudge, 22 ; Flying Squirrels, 23 ; White-footed Mice, 
25 ; Short-tailed Meadow-rats, 26 ; Jumping Mice, 27 ; Woodchucks, 
27; A Box Trap, 30; Musk-rats, 31. 

CHAPTER III. 
The Back-yard Zoo S3 

The Study of Living Animals, 33 ; Size of Lot, 35 ; Galvanized Iron 
Wire Cloth or Netting, 36 ; The Mesh, 36 ; To Make a Cage of Gal- 
vanized Wire Netting, 39 ; The Door, 40 ; The Doors for the Run- 
way, 40 ; Toads, 43 ; Frogs, 44 ; Peepers, 44 ; The Tree-frog, 45 ; 
The Anderson Frog, 45 ; Lizards, 45. 



4 



X Contents. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PAGE 

A Back-yard Fish-pond 48 

How to Make a Fish-pond, 48 ; By Sinking a Wooden Tank in the 
Ground, 49 ; Best Form for Such a Tank, 49 ; To Prevent Wood from 
Decay, 50 ; When to Stock, 52 ; Fresh-water Clams, 53. 



CHAPTER V. 
Pigeon Lofts and Bantam Coops 54 

A Pigeon Loft and Bantam Coop, 55 ; Lumber, 56 ; Pigeon-loft Floor, 
56 ; Shutter Frames, 56 ; Roofing Material, 57 ; Doors, 58 ; The 
Shutters, 59 ; Cleanliness, 59 ; The Hen's Nest, 59 ; The Pigeon's 
Nest, 60 ; For a Hen Roost, 60 ; Drinking Troughs, 61 ; P lying 
Cage, 62. 

CHAPTER VL 
How TO Make a Back-yard Aviary 63 

Birds' Nests in Washington's Coat, 63 ; Nests in Speaking Horn, 63 ; 
A Woodpecker's House, 64 ; Martin Houses, 66 ; The Wren House, 66 ; 
Tin-can Bird-house, 68 ; A House of Straw, 68 ; A Barrel for a Martin 
House, 68, 

CHAPTER VIL 
A Boy's Back-yard Workshop 72 

How to Make Buildings Plumb and Level, 72 ; Tools, 73 ; A Level, 
74 ; A Foundation, 76 ; How to Build the House, 77 ; Corner Posts, 
81 ; The Window, 82 ; Side Plate, 82 ; The Rafters, 84 ; Machine- 
Shop, 85 ; Tool Rack, 86. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

How TO Build an Underground Club-house 89 

A Doorway at the Top, 89 ; The Trap-door, 90 ; Dimensions of House, 
90 ; New Lumber, 92 ; Framing, 92 ; Passageway, 93 ; Windows, 94 ; 
The Roof, 94 ; A Ventilator, 95 ; Dangerous Caves, 96. 



Contents, xi 



CHAPTER IX. 

PAGE 

A Boys' Club-house on the Water 97 

Crusoe Clubs, 97 ; Foundation of Club-house, 97 ; The Building Ma- 
terial, 98 ; The Foundation Posts, 100 ; The Bottom of the Pond, 
loi ; Temporary Diagonal Braces, 103 ; An Artificial Island, 104. 



CHAPTER X. 

How TO Have Fun on a Picnic 105 

Joggling Board, 105 ; Turnpike Loo, 106 ; Dinner Box, 106 ; Rhode 
Island Clam Bake, 107; Pennsylvania Pond Stew, 107; Burgoo, 107; 
How to Cook a Burgoo, 108; A Game of Jack Fagots, no; Old Dan 
Tucker, no; Pitch-peg-pin Pitching, 112; Lawn Hab-enihan, 114. 



CHAPTER XI. 

How to Build and How to Furnish a Daniel Boone Cabin 116 

The Ghosts of the Fireplace, 116 ; The Log House, 118 ; Suitable Timber, 
118; The "Skid," 118; The Foundation, 120; Floor Joists, 120; Floor 
Supports, 120; Log Rolling, 121; Door and Window Openings, 121 ; 
The Fireplace, 122; The Roof, 123; The Bunks, 123; A Lincoln 
Bed, 124; The Door, 125; The Lamp, 127; The Chimney, 130; A 
Table, 131 ; General Camp Notes for Old Boys, 132 ; How the Women 
Should Dress, 133; The Requirements for a Camp, 133 ; Making the 
Shack, 135 ; The Brush Covered Lean-to, 136 ; Tents with Roofed 
Verandas, 136 ; What is needed for Table and Larder, 137. 



CHAPTER XIL 

Flat-boatman's Horn 137 

Whittling, 137 ; Wooden Bugles, 141 ; The Old Wooden Horn of Cap- 
tain Bob Collins, 142 ; The Wabash Horn, 143 ; How to Make a Wa- 
bash Horn, 144 ; The Mouth-piece, 144. 



xii Contents, 



CHAPTER XIII. 

' PAGE 

The American Boy's House-boat 146 

Building Material, 150; The Centre-piece, 151; The Sides, 151; The 
Bottom, 154; The Cabin, 157; Deck-ribs, 157; The Keel, 159; 
Flooring, 159; The Hatch, 160; Upper Deck, 160; The Rafters, 160; 
The Rudder, 163; Rowlocks, 163; Ash Poles, 164; The Locker, 164; 
Canvas-cabined House-boat, 166; The Cost of House-boats, 167; For 
People of Limited Means, 168. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
A Back-yard Switchback 170 

The Wheels, 170 ; The Flange, 171 ; The Axles, 172 ; The Bottom of the 
Car, 172; Starting Platform, 173; The Track, 178; A Curved Track, 
178; Cross-ties or Sleepers, 179; Ticket-chopper's Box, 180. 

CHAPTER XV. 
How TO Build a Toboggan-slide in the Back-yard 182 

Slipperies, 182 ; A War-time Slippery, 182 ; Tropical Toboggan-slide, 
184 ; A Frame, 185 ; A Toboggan Room, 186 ; Packing the Slide or 
Chute, 186. 



PART II. 
RAINY DAY IDEAS. 

CHAPTER XVI. 
A Home-made Circus 191 

The Bath-tub as a Receiving-tank, 191 ; A Water-wheel, 192 ; The 
Shaft, 192; Paddles, 193; Hanging-bars, 194; Figures which Move, 
198. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Good Games with Toothpicks and Matches 201 

A Simple Toothpick Example, 203 ; To Lift Three Safety-matches with 
One Toothpick, 203 ; A Spring-bed, 204 ; Artificial Water, 206 ; A 
Bridge of Matches, 206 ; The Piers, 207 ; The Approaches, 207 ; The 
Roof, 207 ; A Pioneer Settlement, 208 ; The Chimneys, 208. 



Contents, xiii 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

PAGE 

Fun with Scissors and Pasteboard and Paper 210 

How to Make the Sleigh, 211 ; How to Make the Horses, 212 ; To Cut 
out the Horse, 213 ; The Pole, 213 ; The Driver's Whip, 215 ; Paste- 
board Soldiers, 215; Stirrups, 216; How to Make the Soldiers, 216 ; 
To Make an Army, 217 ; Grandmother's Reticule, 218 ; To Cut a Five- 
pointed Star with One Clip of the Scissors, 220 ; To Make a Cross 
Into a Square with Two Cuts, 221. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

How TO Prepare and Give a Boys' Chalk-talk 222 

The Name Chalk-talk, 224 ; Drawing-board, 225 ; Size of Board, 226 ; 
Height of Easel, 226 ; The Drawings Themselves, 227 ; How to Be- 
gin, 227 ; A Stationary Object, 229 ; Motion, 230 ; Evolution of the 
Ape, 234. 

CHAPTER XX. 

A Christmas Novelty for Boys 237 

How to Build and Decorate a Fireplace for Santa Claus, 237 ; The First 
Start, 237; Back of the Chimney, 238 ; The Front Frame, 240; The 
Covering, 243 ; To Line the Inside of the Fireplace, 243 ; Our Ameri- 
can St. Nicholas, 243 ; Costume for Santa Claus, 245 ; How to Put on 
the Clothes, 246. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

How TO Make Two Boys into One Santa Claus 248 

How the Legs are Made, 249 ; The Wig and Beard, 249 ; The Curtains, 
249 ; The Sleigh, 250; The Signal for Legs, 251 ; The Distribution of 
the Presents, 251. 

CHAPTER XXIL 
A Circus in the Attic 253 

How to Make the Horses and Other Animals, and How to Make the 
Costumes, 253; The Goat, 253; The Arab Steed, 254; The Neck- 
bones, 255; The Ribs, 255; The Frame, 256; The Reins, 256; To 
Make the Giant Bird of New Zealand, 257; The Manicora, 257; The 
Ring-master and his Costume, 259 ; Making Up, 262. 



xiv Contents. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

PAGE 

A Boys' Stag-party 263 

Target Shooting, 263 ; To Make the Target, 263 ; Carpet Tacks as 
Darts for the Blow-gun, 264 ; Vegetable Bonbon Boxes, 265 ; A 
"Fake" Cake, 266; The Shooting, 267; The Spread, 268; The 
Explosion of the " Fake " Cake, 268. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

A Wild West Show in the House 270 

How to Reproduce the Patterns, 270 ; Making the Cowboy, Horse, and 
Indian, 273 ; For a Bridle, 274 ; The Indian Horseman, 275 ; The 
Buffalo, 276 ; The Stage, 277. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

How to Have a Panorama Show 278 

Choice of Subject, 278 ; Hunting Suitable Pictures, 279 ; Colored Fig- 
ures, 280 ; The Works of the Panorama, 281 ; The Stage, 282 ; Foot- 
lights, 282 ; How the Panorama Box is Built, 283 ; The Rollers, 284 ; 
Show-bills, 286 ; The Lecture, 287. 

Index 289 



PART I. 

FAIR WEATHER IDEAS. 



The Jack of All Trades. 



CHAPTER I. 
TREE-TOP CLUB HOUSES. 

It is now over thirty years since the writer was first 
initiated into the delights of a boys' club-house in the tree- 
tops, and it happened in this way : 

The war of the Rebellion was over ; for four years the 
fathers, big brothers, teachers, and policemen of the border 
States had had so much serious fighting on their own hands 
that little or no attention was paid to the growing generation 
of boys, and they were left to fight their own battles in their 
own way. 

For four eventful years these boys were under practically 
no other restraint than the little their poor half-distracted 
mothers could enforce. The boys, however, did not appear 
to miss the discipline, nor desire it, and, as far as their 
physical health was concerned, they throve and developed 
into lusty lads, though many of them recognized no law but 
that of physical force. 

Gangs of young toughs, under the leadership of local 
bullies, frequented the play-grounds and roamed along the 
river-fronts, where they hunted down, pillaged, and beat 
every unprotected lad they could catch out of sight of his 
own home. 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



In spite of the fact that the river-fronts were the favorite 
resorts of the lawless element, those places presented so 
many attractions to the juvenile mind that they were the 
popular play-grounds of all the boys living within reach of 
their muddy banks and turbid waters. 

About this time three boys of a Kentucky town, who 
were devoted to boating and bathing, put their curly heads 
together to devise a plan by which they might enjoy their 
favorite pastimes, and at the same time secure a safe place 
of refuge where they could hide when the enemy approached 
in numbers too strong for the three boys to resist. 

After many conferences, and references to ** Robinson 
Crusoe," *' Swiss Family Robinson," " The Coral Islands," 
and other undoubted authorities, the}'- decided to build an 
underground house, ^" and armed with spades and shovels, 
they immediately began work right in the heart of the 
enemy's country. 

They w^orked, as only boys can when they think their 
work is fun, and soon excavated a great hole in the river- 
bank. Not far off were the remains of a flat-boat, and to the 
heavy pieces of timber the boys harnessed themselves and 
hauled the lumber over the top of their cave to serve for a 
roof. 

With spade and shovel they carefully concealed the 
timber by a thick layer of earth, leaving only a square hole 
with a trap-door as an entrance and exit. The dirt was then 
smoothed down, and drift-wood, dried weeds, and other 
rubbish scattered over in such a manner that no one, with- 
out careful inspection, would suspect that the bank had been 
tampered with. 

But the enemy was alert, and spies had been stealthily 

* Chapter VIII. of this book tells how to build an underground club-house. 



Tree-top Club Houses. 



watching the work progress, and patiently waiting the com- 
pletion of the secret hiding-place. No sooner was the last 
handful of rubbish strewn over the roof than, with wild yells 
and whoops of delight, the " River Rats " charged upon the 
surprised workers. 

" Big Red" Resmere in the lead, with " Squinty " Quinn 
and " Spotty," the freckled-face, close behind, while the rear 
was brought up with a rabble of less noted characters, who 
more than made up for their own lack of courage by their 
terror-inspiring yells. It was too formidable a crowd for the 
three cave-diggers to parley with, so they ingloriously fled 
up the bank, leaving the product of their hard work in the 
hands of the despoilers. 

The River Rats 

used the cave as headquarters, and for a long time afterward 
would suddenly sally forth from the concealment of the 
hole and surprise and beat any strange lad who was in- 
cautious enough to venture in the neighborhood unprotected 
by a company of friends. This adventure taught us several 
things, and one night, at the ''dark of the moon," we met 
in a smoke-hou5e and formed ourselves into a secret society. 
Over a bottle of strained honey we made solemn vows, and 
the secrets of the society have never been divulged until 
now. 

The name, the purpose, and the fact of there being any 
society were the three great secrets. The name was " The 
Three Ancient Mariners." The object was to stand by each 
other to the crack of doom, and the seal, 3 • A* M, was tat- 
tooed on each member's good right arm. 

The vows were religiously kept, and many a bruised 
face and discolored eye proved our loyalty to each other, 
for the River Rats made constant war upon us, and our 



6 Fair Weather Ideas, 

peaceful plans for fun were often rudely upset by the sud- 
den appearance of a bright red head, followed by a freckled 
face and a gang of retainers. 

This persecution caused the production of 

A Tree-top Retreat, 

which, I believe, has never yet been discovered by the 
enemy, nor any one else.^ To reach our secret camp and 
club-house we had to trudge along the dusty turnpike in 
the hot sun, with no shade but that afforded by our wide- 
brimmed straw hats. After passing an old-fashioned inn, 
with its swinging sign decorated with a picture of the bat- 
tle of Buena Vista, we cut cross-lots over the forts and 
rifle-pits on the hill-side, built by the Union soldiers at the 
time of the Morgan raid. At the end of the lowest rifle-pit 
we slid down the cut to the railroad track, and followed it 
to the fence, with a hollow gate-post, where the bluebirds 
always built their nests. Here we left the railway and en- 
tered a cool belt of woods in which the dainty maidenhair- 
ferns grew on the damp rotten logs and the gray squirrels 
scolded us from the branches overhead. Following a private 
trail, we reached an immense beech-tree which had grown 
around a shaggy-barked hickory in such a manner that only 
the roots and branches of the hickory could be seen, the 
whole trunk being embedded and concealed by the smooth 
bark of the beech, giving it the novel appearance of a tree 
bearing two entirely different kinds of nuts. 

Under the spreading branches of this compound tree 
we generally rested awhile and took a look about us, to be 
certain that the River Rats were not on our trail ; then 

* Since the above was written the writer visited the place, found the woods gone 
and trolley cars running by the old camp. 



Tree-top Club Houses. 



diving into the hazel thicket, we emerged on the banks of 
a tributary to the Licking River. A giant tulip-tree stood 
on the bank of the creek, and a wild grape-vine, as thick as 
your arm, dangled from the branches, which spread like an 
umbrella sixty or seventy feet above us. The vine had 
been cut loose from its roots on the shore, and its severed 
end hung over a deep, dark pool. 



The Secret Grape-Vine 
Route. 

No boy, outside the mem- o 
bers of the 3-A-M's, would "^^-^ 
look twice at the great snake- 
like vine hanging over the \ 
''lick," and if he should, the 
vine was far out of reach, and 
would be passed by as sug- 
gesting no possibilities of fun. 

Well, that is where he 
would make his mistake. Con- 
cealed in the underwood back 
of the tulip-tree was a long 
pole with a hook on one end, 
and by means of this imple- 
ment we could grapple the grape-vine and pull the end 
within reach of our hands, and then one of us at a time 
would grasp the vine securely with both hands, and step- 
ping back on the bank, give a short run, spring out into 
mid-air and sail away across the deep hole to drop with a 
thud upon the opposite bank. 

Of course all this was unnecessary, for there were plenty 
of shallow riffs near by where we could wade across ; but 




Fig. I. — Beginning a Two-tree 
Foundation. 



8 Fair IVeather Ideas. 

no lad with any romance in his soul would be guilty of such 
baby-work when he knew the secret of the grape-vine route. 
Once across we would peer carefully around in the most 
approved Indian-scout fashion, and when satisfied the coast 
was clear we would crouch down and make a wide detour 
that would bring us to a large sycamore-tree, which had 
been uprooted by the wind and fallen so that its top rested 
in the fork of a towering oak-tree. The spreading roots of 
the fallen sycamore made a wall of clay fully fifteen feet 
high, which, with the surrounding underbrush and foliage, 
effectually concealed the fact that in the branches of the 
oak-tree rested a large and strange nest — a nest built by 
wingless birds, for it was the club-house of the Three 
Ancient Mariners ! The leaning trunk of the uprooted 
tree made a firm though slippery substitute for a ladder, 
and here among the branches many a jolly day was passed, 
and many a meal of fried fish, fresh from the neighboring 
" lick," was devoured by three happy, sunburned boys. 

Dangerous Toughs. 

Except in the neighborhood of large cities, there is now- 
adays not much danger from gangs of brutal, half-grown 
boys, but in those times the law seldom bothered any one. 

However, even now, privacy and exemption from un- 
welcome interruption are desirable, and this can be best 
secured by 

A Club-House in the Tree-tops, 

for when the ladder is pulled up no one, without the aid of 
" climbers," such as line-men use, can hope to gain access 
to the cosey little house in the branches. 

If you can find a tree with three or four strong spreading 



Tree-top Club Housed. g 

branches, the problem of erecting a house is not a difficult 
one. If there are four straight trees the proper distance 
apart, it is a comparatively simple work to erect your house 
between their trunks, high enough to be out of reach of 
River Rats ; but trees, as a rule, do not regulate their 
growth to suit any set of boys, and the boys must use their 
ingenuity to adapt their houses to the forms and growth of 
the available trees. 

First choose your location, and see that it is a desirable 
one to all the club members ; then, if there are any lofty 
trees at 

The Desired Spot 

you will certainly find an opportunity for a four-tree, 
three-tree, two-tree, or one-tree house. 

The tree or trees for the purpose must be so tall, that 
when the bottom ladder is pulled up the house will be out 
of reach of unwelcome callers, and big enough to prevent 
the wind from so swaying the house as to give a feeling of 
insecurity. 

A Two-Tree House. 

Let us suppose that there are only two trees in the 
proper location which fulfil the requirements, and that 
these are tall pines with no branches of any importance 
below their feather-duster-like tops. This presents one of 
the most difficult problems to solve ; but when you know 
how, you can erect a most enchanting "crow's-nest" away 
up the tall trunks, where the fresh breeze blows over the 
tops of the smaller trees, and where a good view can be 
had of the surrounding country, and the enemy, if there 
be one, may be seen while yet a long distance off, giving 
ample time to the club members to pull up the ground 
ladder and place themselves in position to laugh at the foe. 



10 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



Hov/ To Start. 

With an accomplished woodsman the whole edifice may 
be erected with the use of no other tool than an axe ; but, as 
a rule, the more tools you have at your disposal the better 
you can do your work. If you possess a tape-line, measure 
the distance with it between the two tree-trunks. If you 
have no tape but have a two-foot ruler, make yourself a 




Fig. 2. — King Posts and Corbel. 

longer measure by marking off the feet and half-feet upon 
a ten or twelve-foot pole, and use it to measure between 
the trees. If, however, you have neither, use your legs 
and pace the distance, and then cut two long, strong poles, 
and see that they are long enough to span the distance be- 
tween the trees, leaving plenty of wood to project beyond 
each tree. Flatten one side of each pole as shown in the 
diagram B, B, Fig. i. Next, select a sound log, a foot or so 
in diameter, quarter it, and make four 



Tree-top Club Houses. 



II 



See A, A, 



A Blocks, 

each about two feet long, 
and A\ Fig i. 

As it is best to have the bottom of 
your house level, you must manage to 
nail the A blocks the same distance 
above the ground on each side of each 
tree — that is, if the ground is level ; if 
not, you must allow for the slant of the 
earth. Spike the blocks securely to the 
trees with six-inch nails, using about 
three nails to each block. 

The foundation of the house may be 
higher than your ladder will reach. In 
this case cut two more poles 
and four more blocks, and 
at the point where the top 
of your ladder reaches spike 
on the blocks, and then rest 




The B Poles 

on them on each side of the two trees, 
as in Fig i. Nail the B poles securely 
to the tree, and with plank or half-round 
sticks floor the space between the trees, 
and you will have a good landing below 
your house (see Fig. 5) from which a 
ladder may be run to the proposed 
foundation. After the upper rods have 
been nailed to the trees and a ladder ad- 
justed, and for security nailed fast to 




Fig. 3.— End View of Cor- 
bel Resting on B Sticks. 



12 



Fair IVeathe^^ Ideas. 



the tree and lower platform, 3^ou are ready to begin the 
serious work of building. Take a good strong plank, two 
inches thick, and cut two pieces about six feet long, and 
shaped as shown by 

The Corbel Piece D 

in Fig. 2 ; then cut four struts (E, E, in Fig. 2) and two 
king-posts (C, Fig 2). Shave off the ends of the struts, as 




Fig. 4. — Perspective View of Corbels Resting on B Sticks. 

shown in the diagram, to fit the notches cut in the corbel 
pieces and the king-posts. 

It is not necessary to spike this frame together — the 
big nails might split the timber — they may be fastened to- 
gether slightly with wire nails and strengthened by a piece 
of hoop-iron nailed on with small nails, as shown in Fig 2 



Tree-top Club Houses. 



13 




Fig. S.— a Two-Tree House. 



14 Fair JVeather Ideas. 

at F, F, F, F, and this will keep the pieces from accident- 
ally slipping out of their bearings, or holes may be bored 
and the parts held together with screws. The real strain 
being an up-and-down thrust on the notches, the weight 
will not bear upon the iron bands or screws. Great care 
must be taken to make neat-fitting joints. 

How to Build the Foundation. 

When the two pieces of the form of Fig. 2 are com- 
pleted, make fast a line to them and haul them up the tree ; 
then slip the ends of the rods B and B under the corbels D, 
until the king-post C lies flat against the side of the tree- 
trunk. Spike C securely to the tree-trunk, as shown in 
Fig. 3 ; do the same with the other frame on the far side of 
the other tree, and you have a firm foundation that will 
hold more weight than you are liable to put upon it. Now 
cut two more pieces of two-inch plank, say, ten feet long 
by four inches broad ; hoist them up and spike them to the 
top of the corbel pieces D, D, so that they will project the 
same distance beyond the tree at each end, as in Fig. 4. 

From G to G you may now lay the planks of your floor, 
if the distance is short : if not, put two poles across each 
side of the trees and nail them to the trunks, and two more 
across at each end of the pieces G, G, and nail them to G 
and G, and then put your flooring on parallel to the G 
planks. 

Frame, Walls, and Roof. 

The rest of the work is simple. To shed the rain your 
roof must incline one way or the other — to the front, as in 
Fig. 5, or to the back, as in the one-tree house, Fig. 6. 
Nail on an A block to each tree, and give them the same 
incline ; then place two poles for rafters on the A blocks. 



Tree-top Club Houses. 



15 




Fig. 6. — Frame of a One-Tree House. 



and nail them, each with a single nail, to the tree-trunk ; 
this will hold them in place until you cut four straight 
poles for the uprights at the four corners of your house ; 
set these up under the ends of the rafters, and nail the 



1 6 Fair Weather Ideas. 

rafter to them and to the trees ; then drive two or three 
nails, slantingly, in the foot of the upright to secure them 
to the floor (toe-nail. Fig. 92, Chap. IX.). A cross-piece on 
top of the front and rear completes the skeleton of your 
house, which may be roofed and the sides c ^vered with 
boards, or only the roof made of boards with narrow 
strips over the cracks and the sides covered with poles, 
by nailing the latter to the uprights as in Fig. 5. This 
gives a fine rustic effect, but unless ceiled or boarded up 
on the inside it will allow the wind and rain to beat 
through. 

If the trees are further apart than desirable, the house 
can be built between the trees, as in Fig. 5, but if the space 
is no more than required, the house can be built so that the 
sides enclose the tree-trunks, as the railing of the platform 
does in Fig. 5. 

A Rustic House. 

It is really not necessary to use any plank or boards ex- 
cept for the roof and floor. A boy who can handle an axe 
and hatchet well can make the frame. Fig. 2, from timber 
cut in the woods, but unless he is an expert, or can get 
the services of an expert axeman, he had better use plank 
as directed. 

The One-Tree House 

at first thought seems to be an even more serious problem 
than the two-tree house, but a glance at Fig. 6 will show 
how it can be built without much trouble. 

First we nail the two A blocks on to the trunk, then the 
two B sticks. After the two B sticks are placed upon the 
A blocks and nailed to the tree, two more B poles must be 
laid over the first at right angles to them, so as to enclose 



Tree-top Club Houses. 



17 



the tree-trunk within a square of B sticks. Nail all four 
sticks securely to the tree. You will notice that in this 
case many of the sticks are notched near the ends, as D is 
in Fig. 2, and for a similar purpose, to receive and hold the 
ends of the struts, which are nailed at their lower ends 
to the kin^-post (trunk 



of the trti 



It is un- 




necessary to notch or 
mar the trunk of the 
tree, for the ends of the 
struts are cut on an an- 
gle to rest flat against 
the trunk where they 
are nailed, and the nails 
will not injure the tree 
in the least. 

Fig. 6 shows the roof 
boards laid clinker, or 
lap-streak fashion, from 
side to side. Where 
a roof is laid in this 
manner it is not neces- 
sary or desirable to nail 
strips over the cracks, 
as these are fully pro- 
tected by the overlap- 
ping boards. 

Wherever it seems 
necessary to add to the stability of the foundation of any of 
the club-houses described, it can be done by struts from the 
tree-trunk to the ends of the B sticks or other poles sup- 
porting the structure. 

Figs. 7 and 8 show, respectively, 



Fig. 7. — Three-Tree House. 



i8 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



A Three- and Four-Tree Foundation, 

equally applicable to a three or four branch foundation. 

It is, of course, impossible for the writer to i;ive exact 

figures and iron-clad 
rules for this style of 
building, owing to the 
variable nature and 
growth of the trees, 
but the most difficult 
problems are here 
solved, and any other 
combination of trees 
or branches will be 
found to be only va- 
riations of the ones 
here illustrated and 
described. 

As 1 remember our 
little house in the 
Kentucky oak-tree, it 
must have been but a 
rude affair, yet it was 
dearer to the hearts 

Fig. 8.-Four-Trec House. of the 3 ' A ' JNI's than 

a house and lot on 
Fifth Avenue would be now to the only living member of 
the club formed over thirty years ago. 




CHAPTER II. 

HUNTING WITHOUT A GUN. 

How to Capture and Trap Small Live Animals. 

A BOY who can spend part of his time out of town, and 
is the fortunate owner of a mongrel cur, forms a combina- 
tion for enjoyment and fun hard to be beaten by anything 
in nature. A good yellow dog, unencumbered by any aris- 
tocratic ancestors, is an ideal companion in the wood, and 
field : it can scent a woodchuck leagues away, it knows just 
how to head a chipmonk off from its retreat, and there is 
not a trick known to the professional poacher which is not 
familiar to the real country plebeian cur. 

Chipmonks and Woodchucks! 

There is a potent charm in those words, which can iron 
the wrinkles out of an old brow, and soften the hard lines in 
the face of a careworn professional or business man. 

Not long ago 1 attended a dinner given by the 

Camp-Fire Club, 

and there I found ranged around the table an array of vet- 
eran hunters. There were men there who had hunted the 
royal Bengal tiger in the jungles of India, men who had 
fought with rogue elephants, men who had followed the 
lions to their dens in Africa, men who had tracked the white 

19 



20 Fair Weather Ideas, 

bear to its lair in the far frozen North. There were gentle- 
men who hunted for pleasure, cowboys and scouts — Co- 
quina Shields, " Wolf " Thompson, *' Curio " Brown, '^ Yel- 
lowstone" Kelly, Andrew J. Stone, and many others equally 
well-known in the forests or on the plains were seated at 
the big round table.* 

That they were real simon-pure sportsmen could be 
seen at a glance, and yet, when the after-dinner speeches 
were made, the sentiments which received the most enthusi- 
astic applause were those which denounced the killing 
OF MAN OR BEAST. It could readily be seen that these men 
only used the gun when it was necessary to procure food or 
in self-defence. They all indorsed the use of the camera 
for the hunt in place of the murderous gun ; as one of them 
remarked, " With a kodak every good shot is registered 
with the click of the shutter, and an album of good shots is 
a thing of which any man may be proud." 

With a little private zoo of captured live game you may 
have a living album, which attests the skill of the collector 
and his knowledge of woodcraft as accurately as any album 
of photographs. 

The next chapter tells how to build a back-yard zoo, and 
now we must learn how to stock one. If the reader will 



* G. O. Shields, President of the League of American Sportsmen, editor of 
Recreation. 

Ernest Seton -Thompson, naturalist to the Government of Manitoba, author of 
"Wild Animals I Have Known." 

Capt. Luther S. Kelly, veteran of the War of '6i and Spanish War, Indian 
fighter, one of General Custer's scouts and hunters. 

William Harvey Brown, African traveller, hunter and collector for the United 
States Museum, author of '-'On the South African Frontier." 

A. J. Stone, field naturalist, arctic explorer, hero of a 3,000-mile sledge journey, 
discoverer of several American mammals new to science. 




Making a Capture. 



Hunting PVithottt a Gun, 21 

examine the plans in the chapter mentioned, he will see that 
there is one compartment marked 

" Receiving-Cage." 

This is the place where our new captures find temporary 
shelter until their regular quarters are prepared for them. 
The most accessible game for boys belongs to the 

Rodents or Gnawers. 

These animals can be readily distinguished by their long, 
chisel-like front teeth. A familiar example of this family 
may be found in every town and city, and is known as the 
common rat, the Norway rat, or the brown rat. 

Formerly the common rat of the United States was 
black, but his brown relative has about exterminated the 
more graceful black one. The only black rat I ever saw 
was a dead one, which I found one summer in an unoccupied 
house in the mountains of Pennsylvania. But there are 
plenty of beautiful little gnawers around us ev^erywhere. 
There are the soft, furry, big-eyed flying-squirrels, which 
leave their warm nests at dusk and sail through the air from 
tree to tree, or romp among the branches until daylight. 
Just at dawn they return to their beds, to sleep away the 
day in their dark holes, secure from the garish sunlight. 

Of course an}^ boy with money can purchase flying- 
squirrels, but no boy with any pride would stoop to buy his. 
live game, unless he is so unfortunate as to be unable to 
leave the densely populated city. I well remember the two 
boys* who gave me my first lessons in hunting flying-squir- 



* Charles Dana Gibson, the artist, and his brother, Langdon Gibson, natural- 
ist and traveller. 



22 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



rels. I followed them across meadows, over hills, through 

the woods, down into the dank and dark swamps, until we 

found some old hollow cedars on the edge ot the water. 

Here one of the lads armed himself with a small wand, and 

the other busied himself gathering old dry leaves and bits 

of moist bark to make a smudge. The boy armed with the 

wand probed the hollow trees until he discovered a hole 

from which the \vand would bring forth some bits of the 

fine shredded inner bark of the cedar. 

^^^' 9- We all know that neither the inner 

I k V ^V > 7: r '<> - bark nor any other 

in the hollow of 
trees, and when it is discov- 
ered there you can wager that 
it was put there by some ani- 
mal. 

This stringy, soft stuff is 

famous material for a nest, 

and both the white - footed 

mice and the flying-squirrels 

are fully aware of its good properties. 

When some of this nesting is found in a tree, it is safe 
to say that there is a nest inside. 



Fig. iq 




Fig. II. 



A Smudge 

is now lighted and the hollow tree is filled with smoke. As 
soon as this is thoroughly done, you may safely thrust youi* 
arm into the hollow and bring out the stupefied inmates. 

I never knew the smoke to cause the squirrels any seri- 
ous harm. The little captives soon revive, when brought 
out into the open air. 



Huniing Without a Gun. 23 



Flying-Squirrels, 

when tame, make the most gentle pets, but when wild, and 
rudely seized by hand, they have a vicious way of using- 
their chisel-like teeth which induces more caution the next 
time. A smoke-stupefied squirrel is much more pleasant to 
handle than a wild one, frantic with fright. 

If, however, you protect your hand with an ordinary 
bicycle or golf cap, you can seize almost any small animal 
with impunity. I caught nine flying-squirrels in one night, 
with no protection for my hand but an old cloth cap. 

Do not try to throw the cap over the animal, or it will 
escape from beneath, but use the cap as a protection to 
your hand, then grasp the creature by a quick movement, 
closing your fingers tightly over its body, being careful not 
to squeeze hard enough to injure the terrified little squirrel. 
The advantage of this mode of capture is that, having the 
game in your hand, you can easily thrust it into the cloth 
bag you carry for that purpose. 

The Cloth Bag 

is a most convenient thing; it is easy to carry, allows plenty 
of air, and the little creatures never think of gnawing out 
while you carry them. 
I have carried 

Short-Tailed Meadow-Rats 

and white-footed mice for miles, tied up in my handker- 
chief, and no attempt was made by my prisoners to use 
their teeth to assist them in escaping. 

The gentle, graceful little jumping-mice, white-footed 
mice, short-tailed meadow-rats, and flying squirrels are all 



24 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



to be found inside the city limits of Greater New York, and 
some of their relatives are to be found in almost any rural 
place in this country. These interesting little creatures can 
be captured with ordinary box-traps, figure fours, or the 
square or round wire mouse-traps. The white-footed mice 
or deer-mice may be found in the abandoned nests of other 
rodents, in hollow logs, in old corn-stacks, in holes in the 
fence-rails, and under clods of old ploughed fields, or be- 
neath brush-heaps in the fence corners. 

In the late autumn, before the first snow comes, they 
have a very pretty way of 



Utilizing Last Summer's Birds'-Nests 

by filling them with the soft down from the cat-tails of a 
neighboring marsh, or with moss and wood fibres, thistle- 
down, or the silky feathers from the seed of the milk-weed. 
Like flying-squirrels, the little deer-mice bury themselves 
in the soft nests, and sleep away the day, emerging at 
night for food and exercise. 

If the branch upon which the nest is located is but 

touched, the brown-backed, 
nimble-footed little squatter 
will poke his head from the 
middle of the nest, look in- 
quiringly around, and if no 
danger appears the head is 
withdrawn, and the mouse 
resumes its slumbers; but if 
it is deemed that there is 
cause for serious alarm, it will 
spring from the nest, and with the agility of a squirrel run 
lightly up a branch, and from this point of vantage turn its 




Fig. 12. 



Hunting IVithout a Gun. 



25 



bright eyes on the intruder with a sort of '' please don't " 
expression. If further frightened it will hastily leap to the 
ground and disappear in the brush and dry leaves. 

Sometimes I have found birds'-nests with a neatly laid 
thatch roof over the bowl, and a round doorway gnawed 
through the side of the nest for a means of access to the in- 
terior, where, snugly curled up in a warm bed of down, the 
little white-footed mouse was sleeping. 



White-Footed Mice as Pets. 

Once, while skating on a pond, I discovered a pair of 
deer-mice keeping house in the walls of the mound of mud 
and roots reared by musk-rats for their winter quarters. 




Fig. 12A. — The Old Figure-Four Trap. — Any old box will do for a figure-four trap ; 
but much trouble is avoided by using a box with a large lid for live game, as shown 
in Fig. 12. This is set upside down, as shown above. The lid is considerably larger 
than the box, and attached to it by a couple of leather hinges which are tacked to 
the lid and the box, as shown in the illustration. Fig. 9 is the spindle or trigger, and 
shows the manner in which the notches are cut. Fig. 10 is the catch, and Fig. 11 is 
the upright. In Fig. 12A you see this old-fashioned trap, set and ready for business. 
A small door in the box will make it easy to remove captives. 



26 Fair IVeather Ideas. 

You may capture these little fellows by hand, if you use 
due caution in approaching their habitation, and shield 
your hand with an ordinary pocket-handkerchief. 

They will make beautiful pets, and you will find them 
much more interesting than the common white mice. 

Give them a tall narrow cage, with plenty of head room, 
wire a branch containing a last summer's bird's-nest to the 
side of their cage for sleeping quarters, and feed the mice 
with bread, seed, and grain. 

Short-tailed Meadow-Rats 

frequent the salt meadows, where their grass-roofed paths 
may be found intersecting each other everywhere. After 
the blunt-headed little creatures have been discovered, by 
uncovering their runwa3^s, you may capture them with your 
hand, shielded by a cloth cap. 

Beware of their teeth, for they are savage biters and 
plucky fighters. 

Meadow-rats are not climbers. Put them in a flat cage 
with a good wide expanse of bottom covered with sod of 
growing grass, the roots of which they will eagerly devour. 
Feed them garden vegetables, when grass roots are not 
available. 

If you are an expert it is sometimes possible to catch 
chipmonks by hand. I never succeeded but once in captur- 
ing one in this manner. They will enter almost any ordinary 
sort of a trap, and can be best captured in that way. Set 
the trap near the hole known to be occupied by one of 
these scolding little rodents, and give your captives a roomy 
cage, with a dark corner for a nest. They make gentle and 
amusing pets. Feed them on acorns and nuts. Crack the 
hardest nuts for them. 



Hunting IVithoui a G74n. 27 

Jumping-mice, 
when discovered, are off like a flash, and are too swift of 
foot to be captured bj hand — at least this has been my ex- 
perience. They may sometimes be found under clods of an 
old ploughed field, in fence corners, or under loose brush 
and stones. Like the white-footed mice and flying-squir- 
rels, they are nocturnal in their habits, and there may be 
thousands living all around you, and you will never suspect 
their presence until your cat brings one in from the field, 
or you find their half-devoured remains in the screech-owl's 
nest in the old apple-tree. 

Jumping-mice have been known to make their nests in a 
beehive, and I know of one short-tailed meadow-rat which 
chose the same sort of sweet home. 

In winter the jumping-mouse becomes torpid and ap- 
parently dead, and you may lay him away in a box of cotton, 
where it will remain until the bursting bud and freshening 
grass announce the approach of spring. Then your little 
pet will wake up, and be as full of life as if it had only taken 
a noon nap. 

Although quite vicious, and dangerous to handle in their 
wild state, 

Woodchucks 
make very gentle and comical pets. One celebrated wood- 
chuck-hunter had great success by using a stuffed wood- 
chuck as a decoy. A very good substitute for a stuffed 
animal may be made of gray Canton flannel, stuffed with 
cotton. 

Set your decoy up in plain view of the woodchuck's hole, 
and sprinkle fresh clover around. Then conceal yourself 
behind the hole, and be ready with a strong ring-net on a 
pole to capture your game when it appears. 



28 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



The watchful old fellow will see the decoy sitting on 
its haunches, and reasoning that where it is safe for one 
"chuck" it is safe for another, he will sally forth to enjoy 
the clover. Then the fun begins. You must jump between 




Fig. 13. — The Wooden Box-Trap.— Dotted lines show arrangement inside. A is the 
trigger, or spindle, which passes through a hole in the rear end of the box. B is the 
catch with a ring slipped over its middle, to which a string is attached to hold open 
the trap-door when the trap is set. There is a notch in the back board of the trap at 
C, and another near the rear end of the trigger, in which the bevelled edges of the 
catch are caught and held in place by the string attached to the trap-door. Fig. 
133^ shows the details of Fig. 13. The box-trap is an old "•stand-by" with the 
boys, is simple in construction, and can be made by any lad who can handle tools. 
This drawing was made from a trap built by a country lad, twelve years of age. A 
serviceable trap can be improvised from an old tin can, or, better still, one of those 
square tin boxes used so generally now for holding fancy groceries. 



the woodchuck and his hole, and net him as best you can, 
after which transfer him to a meal-bag, and carry him to 
his cage. 

Woodchucks can run rapidly for eight or ten yards ; then 
they have a habit of suddenly coming to a stop, assuming 



Hunting Without a Gun. 



29 



their favorite upright pose, and darting off again in another 
direction. 

June is the time to capture the young ones, as they play 

about their home hole. 

1 




T'Hie. 



The Tin Can- Trap. — Make a door of a square or rectangular piece of tin. With a 
nail make two holes in the top of the door for the wire hinges (Fig. 14). With a 
heavy knife cut a doorway a trifle smaller than the door. Cut three slashes as 
shown in Fig. 15. Bend the two sides in as shown in i^ig. 16, then hang the door 
with the wire hinges. Fig. 17 shows the door from the inside of the tin box, and 
Fig. 18 shows the same from the outside. The door, as may be readily seen, can 
be pushed up from the outside to admit the game, but when the prisoners attempt 
to get out they cannot push the door open, for the trap opens but one way. Do not 
leave space enough below the side-pieces for the animal to thrust his nose or paws 
under, or it may lift the door in this way and escape. If, as in the diagrams, it is 
necessary to cut a little above the bottom of the box, put a flat stone, or some similar 
object, inside for the side-pieces and the door to rest upon. Fig. 19 shows the 
manner of cutting the tin. Another door can be made by cutting a star in the tin, 
and then bending the pointed pieces in far enough to allow the game to squeeze 
through. The points will not allow anything to crawl out, however, and it must re- 
main there until released (Fig. 20). These diagrams are given so that the young 
hunters may make their own traps, in case the ordinary mice and rat-traps to be 
found in shops are inaccessible. 



30 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



A Box-Trap, or Figure Four, 

may be successfully used to capture both young and old. 

However fierce an old wild " ground-hog " may be, one 
that is taken young and reared in captivity is remarkably 
gentle. It is fond of a noonday nap, but when the sun 
sinks in the west, and the long shadows creep across the 
fields, it will rouse from its slumber, sit up, wash its face 
like a mouse or a squirrel, and be ready for a frolic. 

When cold weather approaches, the woodchuck, ground- 
hog, marmot, or sifflciir, as it is variously called, will pre- 
pare for a long winter sleep by rolling itself into a ball. In 

this condition you may pack 



it away like the jumping- 
mouse, and when friends call 
you can take the ground-hog 
out and even roll it around 
the floor without seeing any 
signs of life displayed by 
the hairy ball. But when 
spring returns, your Rip 
Van Winkle pet will awak- 
en, and after sitting up on 
its haunches, and Avashing its face with its front paws, will 
be ready for a breakfast of clover or other food. 

Rare old Captain John Smith, in his quaint " History of 
New England and the Summer Isles," published in London 
in 1624, gives, probably, the first written account of the 
musk-rat. He says that " the mussascus is a beast of the 
form and nature of our (English) water-rat;" and he adds, 
"some of them smell exceedingly strong of musk." These 
animals may be caught in almost any sort of a trap baited 
with sweet apples or parsnips. 




Fig. 19. — How the Tin is Cut. 



Hunting JVithout a Gun. 



31 



Musk-Rats 

have very strong teeth, and can use them on wood effec- 
tively, so it is wise to protect all corners and cracks in your 
wooden traps with pieces of tin or sheet-iron. They have 
good noses, and can smell an apple a long distance off. Place 
your traps in the shallow water at the edge of the mill-pond 
or stream inhabited by these rats, and they will doubtless 
find it without difficulty. 

Young musk-rats are very gentle and playful, and may 
be handled without fear ; they do not grow fierce with age 
if reared in captivity and accustomed to gentle treatment. 

When kept in confine- 



ment give them a roomy 



cage, with a tank of water 
to swim in. Build the tank 
after the manner of the one 
described in the '' Back- 
yard Fish-Pond. " 

There is one other little 
animal, familiar to most boj^s, and which they are too apt to 
value only for its skin. In truth, this creature generally has 
a very bad name, and, personally, I owe it a grudge for 
stealing all my live bait, on more than one occasion. 

Nevertheless, when domesticated and supplied with 
plenty of food, like many a poor two-legged wretch, it will 
turn honest, and give up its bad habit of robbing hen-roosts. 
This long-bodied little animal is the mink, which, like those 
animals already described, is not difficult to capture in 
almost any sort of a trap. 

When caught young it becomes very gentle, and even 
affectionate. It is passionately fond of frogs, and these 
batrachians make a good bait for mink-traps. Minks will 




CR0333ECTION 



Fig. 20.— The Tin Box-Trap. 



32 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



eat fish, and when domesticated will not hurt your chickens, 
but will wage a relentless war upon rats and mice. 

You need not confine your mink, for it will make chums 
of your dog and cat, and is fond of a cosey spot in the 
chimney corner. 

While I was sketching on the coast of Maine I spent a 
whole day at my easel, between two great rocks. I soon 




Fig. 21 — Turtle-Trap. — This is simply a box with a door, like Fig. lo. The trap is 
set in shallow water, and baited with meat. It is very effective. 

discovered that I was watched by some creatures, and it 
was not long before my neighbors made up their minds that 
the two-legged thing was a harmless sort of animal, and, 
before I finished my sketch, they amused themselves by 
jumping back and forth over my feet. At first I was more 
afraid of them than they were of me, but soon discovered 
that they meant no harm : so I painted away, with a pair of 
wild mink playing about my feet like tame kittens. 



CHAPTER III. 
THE BACK- YARD ZOO. 

The king of beasts and the royal Bengal tiger are neither 
of them able to inspire such universal terror among the wild 
creatures of the forest as does man. 

Bitter experience and terrible examples of man's ferocious 
cruelty to all wild animals have taught even the most 
humble and inoffensive of them to dread the approach of 
the bloodthirsty two-legged destroyer. 

It is high time that we redeem 

Our Reputation among the Brutes. 

It is time we ceased our wasteful, senseless slaughter of 
every wild thing to be met with in field and forest. It is 
time we began to study live animals, in place of uncanny 
dried skins and badly upholstered " specimens," so-called. 

This Gory Method of Study 

belongs to the past. A new era has commenced, and real 
naturalists now drop their dry bones and moth-eaten skins 
to enjoy the study of live, healthy animals. 

The boy who is really fond of animals never ill-treats his 
pets, or abuses and makes a slave of his dog. On the con- 
trary, his dog is his companion and playmate. 

The boy knows that a dog's master is a god in the eyes 
of the poor brute, and is 

3 33 



34 Fair Weather Ideas. 

Worshipped with Canine Devotion, 

which again and again has been proved faithful unto death. 
Such knowledge makes the boy just and kind. But a dog 
is only a domesticated wolf, and the wolf is not the only 
wild creature which can be domesticated; neither is the 
wolf the only animal which 

Can Appreciate Kindness, 

The same care which transforms a red-mouthed wolf into 
a faithful dog can transform other undomesticated beasts 
into useful creatures. As soon as an animal learns that you 
are contributing to its comfort, you may notice it will greet 
you with a milder expression. As soon as you can make the 
wildest and fiercest beast understand that the use of jaws, 
claws, or sting is unnecessary, it will refrain from using 
them. It is not alwa3"s possible to come to this understand- 
ing with the larger beasts, and such animals are not fitted 
for back-yard zoos. 

A lad who loves his pets will bestow upon the little 
creatures that affection which shows itself in a sympathy 
which can understand their wants and necessities. Such a 
lad can perform wonders ; birds will come at his call, the 
small beasts of the field will follow at his heels, and no child 
will fear him. 

Unfortunately, in spite of the amount of land on this 
continent, it is difficult for any but the very wealthy to have 
access to much of it, hence many readers will say, " We have 
no yard in which to keep pets," or, '' Our yard is too small." 
Of course, if you are living in a flat you must go without a 
zoo, but if you have a yard it will probably not be less than 
twenty-five feet wide, and Fig. 22 shows how a very com- 




42 



The Back-yard Zoo. 



35 



prehensive zoo can be placed in the rear of a twenty- 
five foot lot, without materially interfering with such do- 
mestic matters as the drying of clothes on wash-day. A city 





Lot Twenty-five Feet Wide 

is usually one hundred feet deep ; this will 
allow plenty of room for the house and the 
clothes-lines, and still leave the end of the 
lot for a famous back-yard zoological garden. 
When the writer was building back-yard 
zoos on the banks of the muddy Licking 
River, in old Kentucky, wire-cloth and wire- 
netting were unknown, and a few old barrels 
and dry-goods boxes, a saw, hatchet, and 
some nails, constituted the materials and 

tools with which he and his playmates made cages for 

pets, frog-ponds, and dove-cots. 
The writer's 

Crow and Dog did the Bossing 

of the work, and incidentally learned all the weak spots in the 
structures, a knowledge which they were not slow to use 
when the sheds and coops were finished, and occupied by 
creatures fascinatingly interesting to crows and dogs. 



36 



Fair PVeather Ideas. 



But you boys are lucky fellows ! Everything that youth 
wants is now on the market at reasonable prices. Wire- 
cloth and galvanized wire-netting with double-twisted 
selvages, with meshes of any size to suit the occasion, and 
wire of any dimensions to suit the purpose, are now manu- 
factured especially for the building of cages. 



Galvanized Iron Wire-Cloth or Netting 

comes in rolls, with either square or hexagonal mesh ; in 
other words, the openings between the wires are in the form 
of a square, or are six-sided. 

Wire is numbered from the very heavy. No. ooo, which 

is over a third of an inch in 
C n B 



D 




^^ 



Fig. 23. — Temporary Frame of Cage. 



diameter, to No. 40, which 
is only .00725 of an inch in 
diameter. It is not very 
likel}' that you will use 
either of these wires, un- 
less your collection in- 
cludes some very large 
and strong beasts and 
some very small insects. 
The wires which you will probably need will be between 
No. 14 and No. 22. No. 14 is eighth-tenths of an inch in 
diameter, and No. 22 is a little more than two-tenths of an 
inch in diameter. 

The Mesh 

is the distance from centre to centre of the wire. No. 5 mesh 
means five meshes to the lineal inch — that is, a piece of net- 
ting five inches long will contain twenty-five meshes. The 
" space " means the opening between the wires — that is, the 
distance from wire to wire. 



The Back-yard Zoo. 



37 



This is explained because some of the readers may not 
live near any dealer in wire-goods, and will be compelled to 
order what they want by letter. To do this intelligently 
they should understand the trade terms. Galvanized wire- 
netting, used for small bird-cages, comes in one-half, five- 
eighth and three-quarter-inch mesh, and is made of from 
No. 1 8 to No. 22 wire. The width of this netting varies 
from two feet to four feet. One-and-one-quarter-inch mesh 
is used for pigeon-houses, and the netting is from two feet 
to six feet wide. One-inch mesh is used for quail, ruffed 
grouse, pheasants, prairie-chickens, etc. A two-inch mesh 
is usually used for chicken-coops. 

As a rule, the mesh which has square spaces is called 
wire-cloth, and that which has six-sided spaces is called 
netting. For mice, rats, chip 
monks, flying-squirrels, gray 
and red squirrels, use about 
No. 2^ square mesh of No. 
17 galvanized wire. 

For woodchucks a nd 
musk-rats use a rather small 
mesh and pretty heavy wire, 
for their teeth are strong 
chisels, and you will be sur- 
prised to see what skilled 
mechanics they are in the 
use of the tools with which 
nature has supplied tnem. 
For rabbits, a two-inch mesh 
or any of the nettings used 
for poultry answers all purposes ; but for foxes, if you use a 
two-inch mesh, be careful to have it of heavy wire. The 
writer's Skye terrier pup gnawed its way through the 




Figs. 24 and 25. 



38 Fair Weather Ideas. 

chicken-coop wire-netting on various occasions, and a fox 
has all the energy of a terrier, coupled with a most sur- 
prising amount of ingenuity and skill in jail-breaking. 

A Pair of Foxes 

I once owned could undo any knot or catch that I 
could invent with which to fasten them, and 1 was only 
made aware of the fact from the complaints of lost chickens 
which came from our neighbors. 

While the neighbors were protesting, Faust and Mrs. 
Faust lay in front of their den, staring innocently at us 
with their great brown eyes, but investigation proved that 
the chains which apparently confined them were attached 
to nothing but their collars ; and, furthermore, when I 
pushed the foxes aside with my foot, sundry quills and 
feathers, protruding from the fresh earth of their bed, 
showed only too plainly that our neighbors were not with- 
out reason in suspecting my innocent-looking rascally 
pets. I at last solved the problem by chaining the foxes 
together, and in spite of all their cunning, they never 
learned to go through the same opening in the fence, but 
each chose a different exit, and both were then held by 
their chain. 

Each Cage 

the reader makes will, of necessity, be of a form peculiar to 
his purpose and the location where it is placed. If it is for 
a fence-corner there will be but two sides to cover with 
wire-netting ; if it be against the fence there will be three 
sides of netting : the fence forming the other side. In a 
hundred different ways will the surroundings modify the 
form of the cages, so, to simplify matters, we will suppose 
the proposed pen is to stand in the centre of the yard. In 
this case, 



The Back-yard Zoo. 



39 



^^TTW 



To Make a Cage of Galvanized Wire-Netting, 

you first decide upon the wire and the mesh which are 
needed for this particular coop, next decide what are to be 
the dimensions ; then, with a hand-saw, cut four wooden 
uprights exactly the same length, and fasten these posts 
together, temporarily, as shown in Fig. 23, A, B, C, D. 

The strips connecting the uprights, and forming a box- 
like frame, should be only secure enough to keep the frame 
in shape. The nails in 
the strips must be driv- 
en just far enough to 
hold, leaving the head 
and enough of each nail 
above-board to render it 
a simple task to with- 
draw the nails when 
you wish to remove the 
strips. 

When the temporary 
frame or mould is fin- 
ished (Fig. 23), fasten 
the end of the wire-net- 
ting securely to the front of the upright A with staple tacks, 
then pass the roll to B (Fig. 24), draw it tight, and with 
more staple tacks secure it to this upright ; continue the 
same process at C and D, ending at A, as shown in Fig. 24. 
The arrows show the direction to be observed in passing 
the netting around the uprights. 

When all is snug and fastened firmly, nail a footboard 
and top moulding on, as shown in Fig. 25, after which re- 
move the temporary inside strips, and your coop is done. 
It has no roof or floor as yet, but the roof can be made of 




Fig. 26. — Cages and Runway. 



40 Fair Weather Ideas. 

wood or netting, as the occasion may require ; the floor 
may be of wood or earth, to suit the purposes for which it 
is to be used. In large cages the doors must be framed 
and set in, as shown in the picture of fox-dens in the illus- 
tration of the back-yard zoo, but in small cages a small hole 
may be cut in the netting — this can be done with an old 
pair of shears. The square piece of netting from the cut 
can then be used as a door by fastening one edge with loops 
of wire to the edge of the opening just made. Picture-wire 
and copper wire are best for such purpose, because they 
are pliable and easily handled. 

The Door 

can, if desired, be made very neat by the following method : 
Cut some tin into strips of the proper dimensions, then fold 
the strips on their centre, lengthwise. Punch a series of 
holes by placing the folded strips of tin on a block of wood 
and driving a nail through. Slip the folded tin over the 
exposed edges of the wire-netting, and sew it in place by 
threading a fine wire through the holes. Bind the edges of 
the door in the same manner, then put a loop of wire on the 
door for a hasp, and a smaller one on the cage near the edge 
of the doorway for a staple, and the door may be fastened 
with a peg of wood or a nail ; or, better still, wire a hook on 
the door in place of a hasp, and arrange it so as to hook 
into the loop on the cage. 

It is often handy to have doors in the roof of a cage, as 
in the roofs of the gnawers' cages, over the rabbit runway, 
in the illustration. 

The Doors for the Runway 

to the rabbit-house are on top, and open like a door to a 
bin, as shown in the illustration and in Fig 26. While we 



The Back-yard Zoo. 41 

are at the rodents', or gnawers', quarters, it is well to re- 
member certain peculiarities about the habits of these ani- 
mals. Rats, mice, squirrels, and their kind, will invariably 
seek a crack, angle or corner to commence work for a hole ; 
knowing this, it is well to protect all such places by pieces 
of metal or tin, and none of the little fellows will make his 
escape, unless the door is left open. 

Rabbits will seldom gnaw out, but if they have an oppor- 
tunity they will tunnel out. 

To prevent diggers from escaping, allow your wire-net- 
ting to extend a foot and a half underground, below the foot- 
board. 

A Reptile House 

need not be more than three feet high. It is not shown in 
the illustration, but may be built as described and shown in 
Figs, 23, 24, and 25, after which a roof of wire-cloth must be 
added. 

Into this house you put your turtles, frogs, toads, liz- 
zards, and snakes, and as most, if not all, of these require 
water in considerable quantity, it is well to have a tank for 
their use. But as every boy does not know how to build 
the tank, he may learn by following the directions in the 
following chapter, describing a back-yard fish-pond. 

Be careful to set the tank level and pack it around with 
good hard earth. It is well to sod the ground on three 
sides, and cover the earth on the remaining side with clean 
sand and gravel. 

There should be a strip of land at least two feet wide 
all around the tank, as a runway. When this is all ar- 
ranged spread a layer of sand all over the bottom of the 
tank, fill it with water, and place the cage over all. You 
should have 



42 Fair-l^Veather Ideas. 



An Old Piece of Canvas, 

or some similar covering-, for the cage, to be used when 
your sand is in danger of being washed away by a down- 
pour of rain. 

Everything is now Tead}^ and you can turn loose in the 
enclosure 

Your Whole Collection 

of frogs, toads, lizards, and snakes, and they will soon 
make themselves at home. You must not be surprised if 
your pets in this cage feed upon one another. I once 
owned an old bull-frog who would attempt to swallow any- 
thing that moved, with the exception of snakes. This frog 
swallowed two live mice in one day, but he did not get 
hungry again for two weeks. "^ 

There are but few poisonous snakes in our country, and 
in the Northern States we have but two kinds — copperheads 
and rattlesnakes. Neither of these will add to the interest 
of your collection, and must be left out and let alone.f 

There are many beautiful and harmless little snakes to 
be found in ever)^ field. They abound within the city lim- 
its of New York.:]: I saw two sunning themselves on a 
neighbor's lawn, and discovered their home in the gate- 
post. 

You win be surprised at the many varieties of frogs you 
can find when you start to collect these comical little creat- 

* An account of this frog is in " The American Boy's Handy Book." 
t The South has also the venomous water-moccasin or cotton-mouth, and the 
poisonous but timid coral and harlequin-snakes. 

t Snakes in neighborhood of New York : Dangerous — Banded rattlesnake, cop- 
perhead. Harmless, can be domesticated — Black-snake, worm-snake, ringnecked- 
snake, black pilot-snake, green-snake, water-snake, brown-snake, hognosed- snake 
(adder), milk-snake, garter-snake, ribbon-snake. 



The Back-yard Zoo. 



43 



ures. Some of them are very difficult to catch, and they 
often turn up in the oddest of places. I found a big toad 
in the top of a tree which I had climbed after young crows. 
It was a common hop-toad, not a tree-frog. 

Silly Superstitions of Hoop-Snake Age. 

It is high time that the American boys, in the dawn of 
the twentieth century, should forget all the fabulous stories 
of snakes with the power to '* charm " persons, toads with 
death-dealing breath, deadly swifts and venomous lizards. 
All such yarns are handed down to us by our superstitious 




Chipmonk. White-footed Mouse. Short-tail Meadow-Rat. 

ancestors, and are a part of the witch belief of the old Salem 
folk. There are people living now who will tell you that 
they have seen a hoop-snake with his tail in his mouth, roll- 
ing down hill, and these people really believe what they say ; 
but so did the Salem folks believe in witches. 



Toads : Useful and Harmless. 

If our comical, insect-destro3ang toads were venomous, 
the hand which pens these lines would have perished while 
it was still a chubby, dimpled, baby's hand. 



44 /^^^> tVeather Ideas. 



Neither Do Toads Make Warts; 

otherwise the writer's hands would be far too warty to 
wield either a pen or a brush ; but in spite of the hundreds 
of toads handled by the writer he never was afflicted with 
warts on either hands or body. 

In Pennsylvania there is a toad which has occupied the 
same back-dooryard for over ten years, and he will eat his 
own weight in ** bugs " in a very short time. 

The funniest toad ever owned by the writer was a Ken- 
tucky hop-toad with five well-developed legs, and the 
largest frog the writer ever caught was a New York bull- 
frog, which weighed one pound. 

Frog Market. 

St. Paul and Minneapolis are the great frog markets of 
the world. The receipts there last year, according to the 
daily papers, were something over six million frogs ! 

In the neighborhood of New York City one of the 
earliest frogs is the little brown cricket-frog. Next come 
the mysterious and shrill-voiced peepers, which make each 
marshy spot fairly shriek with their high-keyed notes. 

Peepers 

are hard to capture, because you can seldom see them. A 
dip-net run through the water where you have heard peep- 
ers will generally reward you with two or three little dusky 
imps, who, when captured, will sing in your coat-pocket, 
and the writer has had them sing while imprisoned in his 
hands. 

A loud, coarse trill announces the appearance of 



The Back-yard Zoo, 45 

The Tree-Toad, 

and this batrachian makes a most interesting addition to the 
collection. It is said that the tree-toad has the power of 
changing color, varying from ash-white, dull-gray or a 
brown to a bright-green hue. 

You must look for the hermit-frogs or spade-frogs where 
they hide in holes in the ground, and in the damp wood 
you can hunt the lean-flanked, beautifully-spotted leopard- 
frog, his cousin, the pickerel-frog, and the brown wood-frog. 

The bright-green-tree specimen, known as 

The Anderson Frog, 

is considered by frog-hunters as a great prize, and speci- 
mens can only be captured at rare intervals. When you 
secure a rare frog do not put him in the same place with 
larger frogs, for the latter will swallow their smaller com- 
panions the first time they feel hungry. 

The Frog Has Teeth. 

Put your finger in a frog's mouth and you can distinctly 
feel a number of fine, sharp teeth, but if you put your finger 
in a toad's mouth you will find no teeth ; a frog grabs his 
prey with his jaws, a toad snips it up with his tongue. 

Besides the common, funny old hop-toad, there are the 
Rocky Mountain hop-toads, the Southern hop-toads, and the 
hop-toads from Northeastern Massachusetts, which differ 
sufficiently from the common hop-toad to be classed by 
naturalists as sub-species. 

Lizards. 

With the exception of the Gila Monster there are no poi- 
sonous lizards known, and although many of the little 



46 Fair JVeather Ideas, 

creatures will try to bite you, their teeth are as harmless 
as so many needle points, and cannot be felt through a 
glove. Put on an old glove when handling them and you 
can hold them better ; but be very careful and not be rude, 
or you may be surprised to find you have a stump-tailed 
lizard in your hand while the caudal appendage will be 
twisting around in a most astonishing manner at your feet. 

Many beautiful and interesting lizards may be captured 
in all parts of the Union. 

That it is not cruel to capture and confine wild animals 
is proved by the fact that almost all wild creatures, after 
they have become thoroughly familiar with their quarters, 
will not voluntarily leave their artificial homes for any pro- 
tracted period. I have had wild pigeons return after giving 
them their freedom, and have had foxes return after secur- 
ing their own freedom, by skill and cunning superior to 
that exercised by me in confining them. As for crows, 
coons, squirrels, and numerous other creatures possessed 
by me at different times, only death or forcible detention 
ever prevented them from returning to the place where 
plenty of food and kindness awaited them. 

It is not necessary, or even desirable, to build all your 
cages at one time, for it is hardly possible that you will 
know just what you need until you have secured the creat- 
ures you wish to keep confined in the proposed pens and 
enclosures. 

The Receiving-Cage. 

Allow your cages to grow naturally, by adding additions 
or new ones as the occasion requires. Acting upon this 
plan the receiving-cage will be the first to be erected, and 
it should be strong enough to securely confine the largest 
of your captives, while the mesh of the w^ire-cloth should 



The Back-yard Zoo. 47 

be fine enough to prevent the escape of the smallest pocket- 
mouse. The angles and corners should be well protected 
with metal, to resist the teeth of the gnawers, and the bot- 
tom protected with wire-cloth, to defeat the attempts of the 
diggers. 

This cage will, at different times, furnish lodging for all 
the varieties of beasts or birds which are from time to 
time included in your ever-growing collection. Your new 
animals are first put in the receiving-cage, and must live 
there until suitable quarters are built for them. 

The Value of Room. 

Build all your cages as roomy as your available space 
and material will allow, and study to make their interioi'S 
as like the natural haunts of the imprisoned animals as is 
practicable. Avoid all attempts at ornamenting the cages, 
for no cage looks better and more artistic than the strictly 
practical one, built solely with a view to usefulness. 

Clean sand will be found very useful for spreading over 
the floors of the wooden-bottomed cages, and a large box 
of it, kept in a dry place, will add greatly to your ability to 
keep things tidy. 

Be particular about the nesting of your mice and squir- 
rels ; frequently remove the old nests and burn them, at the 
same time supplying the little creatures with a fresh lot of 
clean cotton, wool, fine grass, or even paper, and they will 
arrange a new bed for themselves out of the fresh material. 

You will soon discover that all beasts prefer to keep 
clean, and have methods of their own by which they en- 
deavor to keep themselves neat and presentable, without the 
use of soap. Any disagreeable odor proceeding from their 
cages simply means neglect on the part of the keeper of the 
zoo. 



CHAPTER IV. 

A BACK-YARD FISH-POND. 

Although the writer has made frequent journeys to 
the wonderful dreamland of his boyhood, and has ruth- 
lessly taken and brought to earth many of its air-castles for 
the use of the boys of the present day, there are still a num- 
ber of things left, and among the latter is the back-yard fish- 
pond, which we shall now seize, and, bringing the idea down 
to your back-yard, make it water-tight, so that you can 
stock it with real live fish. 

A Shallow Pond, 

with a broad surface exposed to the air will support, in 
health many more inhabitants than a deep hole, with small 
exposed surface. Remember that it is easier to keep a fish 
alive in a shallow basin than it is in a bottle holding exactly 
the same amount of water. 

If You Dig a Hole 

in your yard and fill it with water, it will be a mud-hole, in 
which no self-respecting fish will live : besides which the 
soil will soon soak up the water and leave the mud to bake 
in the hot summer sun. 

By Sinking a Wooden Tank 

in the ground and filling it with water a pond may be made. 
But any old box will not answer, for, unless you are a much 

48 




$4J 



I 



i V§! 








Km c 



The Back-yard Fish Pond. 



A Back-yard Fish-Pond. 



49 



better mechanic than the writer was at your age, you will 
not be able to prevent an ordinary box from leaking. 

However, if you really want a back-yard fish-pond, you 
may make a box or tank which will hold water, and the 

Best Form for Such a Tank 

is that of a wide, flat-bottomed scow. This scow may be of 
any dimensions you choose to build it, but 1 would advise 




Figs. 27 and 28. — The Side-boards must be Duplicates. 

you to make your first one not more than six feet long by 
four feet wide, and two feet deep. 

In selecting lumber for the scow, pick out pieces which 
are comparatively free from knots or blemishes. Reserve 
two one-and-a-half-inch planks, and keep the half-inch boards 
for the bottom. 

A saw, a plane, and a sharp hatchet are necessary, but 
4 



50 Fair PVeather Ideas. 

other tools, if not absolutely needed, should not on that 
account be ignored, as they may come in very handy at 
times. 

Trim off your two side- boards to exactly the same 
length — say six feet ; they should then be six feet by two 
feet. On the edge which is to be the bottom measure tow- 
ard the centre from each end of each board two feet, and 
mark the points ; then rule a line diagonally from each of 
these points to the corners of the boards on the upper 
edge ; this will mark out a sort of double-ended sled-runner, 
as shown in the illustrations, and when you saw off the trian- 
gular pieces marked on the boards you will have 

Two Runners. 

Set these runners side to side, on their long edges, and 
round off the angles with your plane, until the boards look 
like rockers (see Fig. 27). The side-boards must be exact 
duplicates of each other (Fig. 28). 

Set the two side-pieces four feet apart and nail two or 
three temporary cross-pieces across their top (longest) edges 
to hold them in position ; then turn them over and nail on 
the bottom-boards (Fig. 28). 

You must use the greatest care in fitting the bottom- 
boards edge to edge, but you need not trouble yourself 
about the ends of the boards ; allow them to project upon 
each side, as chance may direct. After the boards are all 
securely nailed to the bottom the ends may be sawed off 
flush with the sides of the scow (Fig. 29). 

To Prevent the Wood from Decay 

it is well to melt some tar over a fire, and, with a small mop 
made of rags tied to the end of a stick, paint the bottom of 



A Back-yard Fish-pond. 51 

the scow with hot tar, being- careful to see that all the 
cracks and crevices are thoroughly filled. 



In the Shadiest Spot 

you can find in the back-yard dig a hole for your tank. 
Make the bottom level. Set your tank in place and pack 
the earth well around the edges. Cover the bottom of the 
pond with about one inch depth of sand, and the surface of 




Fig. 29.— The Ends may be Sawed off Flush. 

the sand with a coating of gravel ; then carefully fill the 
tank, without disturbing the sand, and allow the water to 
settle ; after which a few aquatic plants may be introduced 
and a wire fence built around the pond to keep out in- 
truders of the two-footed and four-footed kind. If you 
have a few small frogs and turtles the mesh of the wire in 
the fence must be small. 



52 



Fair IVeaiher Ideas. 



When to Stock. 

After the water has stood for three or four da3^s, and the 
aquatic plants have started to grow in their new quarters, 
you can stock the pond with sunfish, rock-bass, dace, small 



I 




Fig. 30. — Cross-section of Tank. 

catfish, crawfish, carp, and goldfish. The two last-named 
are the most stupid of the fish, and the rock-bass is one of 
the most intelligent fish I have ever kept in captivity. 

Handy for the Pets. 

The inclined ends of the scow-shaped tank give two 
sloping shores (Fig. 30), which will be appreciated by the 
crawfish, turtles, and frogs ; and if you build a little rockery 
in the centre the more timid fish will thank you for your 
thoughtfulness in providing them a safe retreat. 

If it is possible for you to 



Catch Your Own Fish 

do not waste your money buying stupid goldfish. The fun 
of hunting for other small fish, capturing them and taming 
them, is more than half the pay for the work, in the pleas- 
ure it will afford you. However, if you are so situated that 



A Back-yard Fish-pond. 53 

you cannot go fishing" yourself, the aquarium stores in the 
big cities will supply you with almost any sort of aquatic 
creature. 

Fresh-Water Clams 

or mussels will live in confinement, and a few make an in- 
teresting addition to a collection. Water -snails act as 
scavengers for the under-water settlement, and a handful 
of them may be added to form a sort of street-cleaning de- 
partment. Caddice worms and the little fresh-water shrimp 
which you find among the water-plants make excellent food 
for your fish. 

Avoid Salt-Water Sand, 

stones, and shells, for the salts they contain are injurious to 
fresh-water creatures. Do not change the water in the 
tank after it is in running order ; but as it evaporates re- 
plenish with fresh water. 



CHAPTER V. 
PIGEON-LOFTS AND BANTAM-COOPS. 

The best place in the world for boys is out-doors, breath- 
ing good fresh air, and the best place in the world for 
pigeons and chickens is out-doors, breathing good fresh air. 
Our modern environments too often limit the amount of 
out-door space which boys can occupy, and also limit the 
supply of fresh air the}^ can furnish their pets. 

In making designs for the latter we must take into con- 
sideration the limited space of a city back-yard, as well as 
the fact that during the extreme cold weather pigeons, 
chickens, and boys, all need some warm retreat where they 
may roost or sleep. 

Indeed, chickens really 

Need Shelter 

more than either boys or pigeons ; the former have been 
known to thrive and grow lusty and strong when living like 
the wild animals of the forests, and every boy knows of 
some location where pigeons have taken up their abode 
with no better shelter than that afforded by an open shed, 
or the overhanging eaves of a house. 

Chickens, 

coming originally from tropical woods, will thrive better 
where their delicate combs and toes are not liable to be 
frost-bitten, and one is more certain not to lose his fantails, 

54 



Pigeon- Lofts and Bantam-Coops. 



55 



pouters, ruff-necks, tumblers, and homing- pigeons, if he has 
a suitable loft in which to confine his pets. These consid- 
erations lead to the designing of a combined pigeon-house 
and bantam-coop suitable for the limited space of the dimin- 
utive city back-yards, or even appropriate for the roof of a 
rear extension, where there is no back-yard to the dwelling. 




Fig. 31. — Frame of Bantam-Coop and Pigeon- Loft. 

By referring to Fig. 31 you will see two boys at work 
upon the frame of 

A Pigeon-Loft and Bantam-Coop 

which is capable of holding with comfort enough pets to 
gladden the heart of any healthy boy. 

The longest posts, A G and B H, are supposed to be 
about nine or ten feet high and nailed fast to the back 



56 Fair Weather Ideas. 

fence. The dotted line, which cuts the frame in half, is to 
show that a building half the size of the one in the draw- 
ing will be plenty large enough for quite commodious quar- 
ters for the birds. After the frame has been nailed together 
and the protruding ends of the timbers all sawed off even 
with the rest of the frame, a floor must be laid to the pigeon- 
loft and securely nailed in place. 

Rough Lumber Will Answer. 

It is not even necessary to have smoothed lumber for 
the flooring or any part of the house, but matched and 
planed boards will make a much neater piece of work. 
The uprights and all the frame are supposed to be built of 
''two-by-four " (two inches thick by four inches wide), but 
even this is not necessary, and in the country, where trimmed 
lumber is scarce, the whole frame may be built of poles cut 
in the woods. 

When the 

Pigeon-Loft Floor 

is nailed down, set the door-jambs in place, between D J and 
B H,and the window-jambs between D J and F L, as shown 
by Fig. 32. Nail the jambs fast to the rest of the frame, toe- 
nailing the loft door-jamb to the floor of the loft, and the 
coop jamb to the ceiling of the coop, also the two horizontal 
jambs of the window-frame to the two upright jambs of the 
same. 

Shutter Frames. 

Over the top-piece, C D, and the bottom piece, N, nail 
two boards, each about six inches wide (R and S, Fig. 32), 
and upon the inside of the loft erect three boards, one at 
each end and one in the middle (facing the roof of the coop), 
each of the same width as the top and bottom-boards. This 



Pigeon- Lofts and Bantam-Coops. 



57 



is to make a framework for the shutters, with which to close 
the loft in bad weather. Over the uprights just erected 
nail the strips, Q, O, and P (Fig. 32). Repeat this with the 
front end of the coop, E, F, K, and L, of Fig. 31, and you 
will have it as represented by Fig. 32. 



\ 



1'.' 



\^-' 




■^ 


^^^^ 


^ 




\ \ 


^ 


f-— 


. 


1 1 

■)ll, 



P 




F^ 




^ 




p: 


i. 







1 









^ 


Q 


J^ 



Fig. 32. — Framed and Roofed. 



Roofing Material. 

There are several cheap kinds of tar and gravel-paper 
sold which make neat and durable roofings, not only for 
coops and sheds, but even for more ambitious structures. 
In case these are not easily obtainable, roof the loft and 
coop with ordinary boards, using another lot of boards to 
cover the cracks between the first layer (Fig. 32). 

It is now only necessary to nail on your sidings, and 
your loft-coop is finished, all but the doors and windows. 



58 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



Dimensions are not given for these, because it often 
happens that there is some old window or hot-bed sash lying 
around the place, and the jambs can be made to fit the sash. 
The sash is held in place by nails, for it is not intended to 
open the window, the sash only being used to let light into 
the lower bantam-coop. 

The open face of the pigeon-loft and bantam-coop are to 



Fig. 34 




Fig. 33. 
Figs. 33 and 34. 



be covered with wire-netting, fastened securely with staple 
tacks, inside the coop and loft, as shown by Fig. 33. 



Doors. 

Fig. 34 shows how to make the doors of boards, fitted 
together and secured by two cross-battens and one diagonal- 
batten. 



Pigeon- Lofts and Bantam- Coops. 59 

When the doors are hung upon their hinges the house 
is finished, but not furnished. It is not necessary to have 
any protection for the screen fronts during the summer, 
but when winter comes four shutters, made to fit these 
openings, it will be found, w^ill keep out the storms and 
protect the inmates from the cold. 

The Shutters 

may be made in the same manner as the doors, and hinged 
on to the lower sill of the loft, so that when open, during 
fair weather, they will rest securely upon the roof of the 
coop. The coop-shutters may be hinged in the same man- 
ner or simply fitted into place and held there by props of 
some sort, which, with the shutters, may be removed in fair 
weather, to admit the air and sunshine so dearly loved by 
your pets. 

Keep Clean. 

I take it for granted that you know how to care for the 
chickens and pigeons ; that you know that no being, not 
even man, can keep himself clean and healthy when con- 
fined to a small room. The keeper must attend to all house- 
hold duties. 

If your pets are untidy, soiled in appearance, and their 
abode infested with parasites, it will be because of the cruel 
thoughtlessness of their keeper. To facilitate house-clean- 
ing. Fig. 35 shows the internal arrangement and furniture 
of the coop-loft, all of which may be removed in a few mo- 
ments and the whole place cleaned and whitewashed. 

The Hen's-Nest 

box is made with a steep slanting roof, which Avill prevent 
the chickens from roosting on the box. The latter has no 



6o Fair PVeather Ideas. 

bottom to it ; the nests rest upon the earth, so that you 
may pick up the box at any time, turn it upside down, and 
turn the hose on it, or plentifully plaster it with clean, 
wholesome whitewash. 

Pigeon-Nests. 

A cleat nailed to the inside wall of the loft, near the door, 
serves as a rest for one end ot the pigeon-nests. The other 
end is supported by a piece of wood about four inches 
wide which is hinged to the back wall, and its upper end 
held in place by a long hook made of a piece of telegraph 
wire. 

If this hook is unfastened the wooden support falls down 
and the box of nests slips off the cleat into your arms. 

Pigeons are not good at perching upon twigs or sticks. 
Their feet are adapted for walking upon flat surfaces, and 
they need a broad surface for a roost. Fig. 40 shows how 
to make a pigeon-roost, which may be hung up against the 
wall by slipping the two holes bored in the top of the back 
board over a couple of nails in the wall. 

For a Hen-Roost, 

nail a narrow strip of wood, with its flat side upon the thin 
edge of another similar strip. The end will then look like 
a T, Fig. 38. 

Round off the edges of the perch with a plane or knife 
until it is of the form of the right-hand diagram. 

Fig. 37 shows a roost of this kind. Fig. 36 shows the ad- 
jiistable side-rail, with slots for the perch to fit, and Fig. 39 
shows a cleat to nail against the wall for the other end of 
the roost. As may be seen, the perch will fit in the slot in 
the cleat. 



Pigeon- Lofts and Bantam- Coops. 



6i 



Drinking-Troughs. 

Figs. 41 and 42 are drinking-troughs, arranged so that 
the birds will not soil the water. 

The jug-trough was made by a farm hand, friend of the 
writer. He made a hole near the bottom of the jug by first 
nicking off a piece of the hard glazed surface with the cor- 
ner of a hatchet, and then drilling the hole with a sharpened 
nail. When the jug was filled with water, a stopper was 
put in and it was set in an old dish; the water remained 
above the hole in the jug, but rose no higher. 






WATtK FOWNT ip^ caIJ FOUNT 



^70 



39 ^m.^ 



U ■" fi^- 35 

Figs. 35 to 42. — Interior and Furniture of Loft and Coop. 

Fig. 42 is an 

Old Lard-Can, 

with a triangle cut in the edge. Fill the can with water and 
place a dish over the top, hold the dish in place, and turn 
the can upside down, and the water will fill the dish and 
keep it filled to the top of the cut in the can as long as 
there is water in the can. 



62 Fair IVeatJier Ideas. 



Flying-Cage. 

By erecting posts at or near the lower end of the bantam- 
coop and stretching wire netting from post to post, and 
thence to pigeon-loft, a space can be enclosed and roofed 
over with netting, which Avill allow your pigeons room to 
exercise their wings. This arrangement does not neces- 
sarily use up a foot more ground space. 

There are many other simple arrangements which these 
few will help to suggest to the reader, and which will add 
to the comfort and happiness of his pets. 



CHAPTER VI. 

HOW TO MAKE A BACK- YARD AVIARY. 

It was before the directors of the Brooklyn Institute had 
met with success in their silly work of introducing the. 
house-sparrow (known here as the English sparrow) to this 
country, and long before these foreign pests were spread 
over the length and breadth of the United States, that the 
court-house in Covington, Ky., was surmounted by a wooden 
image of George Washington. 

Bird's-Nests in Washington's Coat. 

All boys know that Washington loved his country, but 
few know that he was a bird-fancier. That the father of 
our country loved the native birds is attested by the fact that 
they built nests in the wooden wrinkles of his sleeves and in 
the hollow ends of the roll of parchment which he held in his 
hand. His favorite bird was the red-headed woodpecker. 
He had it on the brain, and although each year a brood of 
little red-headed birds were hatched in his head, the dear 
old patriot never made a wry face, but with a benign smile 
he gazed over the roof of the livery stable across the street. 

Bird's-Nests in Speaking-Horn. 

Upon the same lot with the court-house stood the fire- 
engine-house, with its old-fashioned lookout tower. On the 
top of the tower was a weather-vane, made of a great fire- 

63 



64 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



man's horn, but the only voices which ever issued from this 
old speaking-trumpet were the voices of the purple martins, 
singing their bubbling love songs, the twittering of their 
mates, or the impatient piping of the young birds inside 
their revolving home. 

It was in the swinging, moving weather-vane of the 
engine-house that these birds each year built their nests and 
reared their young. 




FIQ43 



Figs. 43 to 47. — The Log may be Rounded or Square. 



A Woodpecker's House. 

There is an army of interesting birds called creepers, 
sapsuckers, and woodpeckers, which no one has, apparently, 



A Back-yard Aviary. 65 

thought of providing with homes, yet it is not difficult to 
suit the woodpeckers with houses. 

A substitute for their favorite rotten tree or stump may 
be made of a sound piece of timber. The log may be 
squared or rounded, as in nature (Fig. 43). Saw off the 
bottom so that the log may set upright, then trim off the top 
end Avedge-shaped, to shed the rain or to receive a roof, 
which will still further protect it from the weather. 

Next saw a deep cut as shown by the dotted line, A, B. 
With a large-sized auger bore a number of holes in the face 
of the log ; these holes must be bored deep enough to leave 
a slight indentation in the main part of the log after the 
piece, a, fo, c, d, has been removed. 

After the holes are bored begin at c, d and saw to a, b 
(Fig. 43), and lift off the piece a, b, c, d (Fig. 45). 

With chisel and gouge cut out the nest holes. Make 
them about eight inches deep, as shown in Fig. 44. Fig. 47 
gives a cross-section of the hole, showing it to be of the 
same form as those made by the birds themselves, in George 
Washington's head, or the old stump in the woods. 

The Perforated Door 

may now be replaced and spiked to the log, and the roof 
(Fig. 46) nailed on the top, which will complete the wood- 
pecker's home. 

A better plan than spiking the door in place is to hang it 
on hinges, as shown in Fig. 46. 

The Hinged Door 

should be supplied with a padlock, as a safeguard against 
children and too-curious grown people. A handful of saw- 
dust thrown into the bottom of each nest-hole will supply 
5 



66 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



the place of the absorbent rotten wood to which these birds 
are accustomed. 

It is claimed that the English sparrow will not nest in a 
swinging or moving house. If this is true we may 



Bring the Martins Back 

by supplying them with 
swinging houses made of 
dipper and bottle gourds, 
hung to brackets or to hoops 
and poles (Figs. 48 and 49). 




Figs. 48 



— Bottle Gourds Hung 
Brackets. 



The Gourds for Bird's 
Houses 

must be thoroughly dried, 
and doorways cut in each, 
near the bottom of the bowl. 
Never make the entrance to 
any sort of a bird-house on a 
line with the bottom of the 
house, for the nest will block 
the doorway. 



Paint the Gourds 

bright red, green, blue, and yellow, and fasten the small 
ends to the supports with copper wire, as shown in Figs. 48 
and 49. 

The Wren-House 

shown in Fig. 50 is made of a grape-basket, and will not 
stand rough weather, but if put in a sheltered place it will 
last a long time. Wrens love to build under a roof of any 
sort. 



A Back-yard Aviary, 



67 




Figs. 50-55.— Made from Fruit-Cans, 



68 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



Tin-Can Bird-Houses. 

Fig. 51 is an old fruit-can. Fig. 52 is the same nailed to 
a board. These tin cans may not appear beautiful when 
nailed to tree or shed, but if neatly painted and wired to- 
gether (Fig. 53) they will present a most attractive appear- 
ance. Fig. 54 is a nest of cans, I'oofed. If a bunch of straw 
is bound firmly together, and the opposite ends spread over 
the bird-house (Fig. 55), it will make a very attractive 
thatched roof. 

A House of Straw. 

A pretty and durable house may be made by binding 
straw around hoops, and roofing the structure thus made 
with a bunch of straw. 

Figs. 56, 57, and 58 explain the structure of 




Figs. 56-58.— A Thatched Barrel. 



A Barrel for a Martin-House 

which, when neatly made and 
thatched with straw, is de- 
cidedly ornamental, and will 
be duly appreciated by your 
bird friends. 

If we can keep the English 
sparrows away, the bluebirds 
will nest in any sort of a shel- 
tered hole. 

Earthenware flower-pots, 
as shown in Fig. 59, may be 
used for bird-houses if you 
enlarge the holes in their 
bottoms to serve as door- 
ways, and enclose the upper 



A Back-yard Aviary. 



69 




Figs. 59-63.— From Earthenware Pots. 



70 Fair Weather Ideas, 

part between two boards (Figs. 60 and 61) which have pre- 
viously had places cut out to receive the pots. If any of 
your shade or fruit-trees have 

Old Knot-holes 

in them (Fig. 62), the rotten wood can be cleaned out, a 
frame nailed around the opening, and a neat little door (Fig. 
63) put on the frame. 

The door should have a hole through it, with a perch or 
stick attached, and this will make an ideal bird-house. 

An Available Supply of Moist Clay 

will often induce the cliff-swallows to plant a colony in your 
neighborhood, and holes made in the gable ends of your 
stable will invite the social barn-swallow to build under the 
protecting roof. 

Do not fail to keep fresh water, in shallow pans or earth- 
enware dishes, on your lawn, for bird baths. 

At my suggestion Samuel Jackson, my young brother- 
in-law, set out baths upon the lawn last summer, and the 
photograph on the opposite page is one which he took of 
a wild robin enjoying his free bath. 

There is another 

Little Native American 

friend which the noisy sparrows are doing their best to 
drive away. This is the house-wren : as interesting and busy 
a little mite as ever protected a garden from noxious insects. 
If you make your wren-house door the size of a silver quarter 
of a dollar no robber sparrow can enter to despoil the nest. 
Of our seven common species of swallows, four are avail- 
ing themselves of the opportunity offered by the barns for 
nesting. 




Wild Robin at His Bath. 

Photographed f7-oin life by Samuel Jackson. 



A Back-yard Aviary. 71 

Barn-swallows build under roofs; cliff-swallows, under 
eaves ; the white-bellied-s wallow and martin, in boxes setup 
for that purpose, when these shelters are not preempted by 
the English sparrows. 

The native swallows destroy an amount of noxious in- 
sects beyond calculation, and almost beyond imagination. 
Without birds this world would, because of insects, be unin- 
habitable, yet each year two hundred millions of them are 
sacrificed for women s hats and bonnets. Aside from the 
inexcusable barbarity of this practice is its menace to our 
trees, our crops, and our very existence. 



CHAPTER VII. 
A BOY'S BACK-YARD WORKSHOP. 

How to make Buildings Plumb and Level. 

By a workshop is meant a place where a boy can build 
a boat, sled, box-kite, man-kite,* mend a golf-club, a broken 
bicycle, his mother's rocking-chair, his aunt's umbrella, or 
build a paper-balloon. f It is a room, house, or shed, where 
a boy can do what pleases him, without being in every- 
body's way ; a place where he can retire and idly whittle 
a stick, or seriously work out some youthful invention ; a 
place where he can entertain his young friends during the 
rainy or stormy days of winter, and where they can talk 
over the new football team, baseball or golf club, without 
being oppressed with the knowledge that their loud talk is 
annoying the older folks. 

The late war has demonstrated to the whole world the 
wonderful skill and pluck of the young American, and 
the world must not suppose these qualities to be suddenly 
acquired, but must know them to be a matter of education 
— an education acquired during boyhood, at the boy's own 
school, with boy professors. 

The Success of Americans 

is not on account of any peculiarity of the blood which 
flows in their veins, but because they live under a govern- 

* For description and diagrams see "The Outdoor Handy Book." 
t "The American Boy's Handy Book." 
72 



A Boy's Back-yard tVorkshop. 73 

ment which teaches independence, and the boys on the 
play-ground become self-reliant, resourceful lads, develop- 
ing their skill by building kites, sleds, and boats, and de- 
veloping their pluck on the baseball and football field. 

To such youths it is unnecessary to enumerate the ad- 
vantages of a Mrorkshop ; neither is it essential to point out 
to them the fact that they may commence their collection 
of tools with a serviceable pocket-knife. 

A Good Oil-stone, 

to keep the knife sharp, is a prize, and for its protection 
from dust or injury it should be set into a block of wood so 
that about one-eighth of an inch of the stone projects above 
the block. A similar block, with a space the size of the 
stone and one-eighth of an inch deep cut out of its centre, 
should be made for a cover. 

A Hatchet 

is not a difficult thing to procure, and a saw, a screw-driver, 
a gimlet, and a three-cornered file can be added to the col- 
lection as opportunity offers. Next a chisel or two, and 
you will have a kit of tools with which, if skilfully used, 
you can build anything from a three-legged stool to a flying- 
machine. 

Use the Best Tools You Can Get. 

With an axe or hatchet, an auger and a sheath-knife, 
the whole race of pioneers, including Daniel Boone, Davy 
Crockett, and the parents of Abraham Lincoln, built their 
homes and made their household furniture. 

It is not to be supposed that any boy, in his right mind, 
will prefer an old dull auger, blunt axe, and a butcher-knife 



74 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



to a chest of bright, new, modern tools, but unless a boy 
belongs to the Miss Nancy, Little Lord Fauntleroy type, 
he will do his best with the implements at hand, and ac- 
quire better ones as the occasion offers. In this manner 
the contents of his tool-chest will grow gradually, and keep 
pace with the development of his skill as a mechanic. 
Such a lad, when in need of 

A Level, 

will make himself one, probably using three pieces of 
board, a string, and a weight, as shown in Fig. 64. The 

two side-pieces of wood being 
V exact duplicates in all dimen- 

sions, the angles at the bot- 
tom are necessarily equal, 
and a line from the apex (A) 
to the centre of the bottom- 
piece must be a plumb line. 
After sawing out his side- 
boards and joining them at 
their top edges, he nails a 
straight piece to the bottom- 
ends, using the utmost care to have the lower edge of the 
bottom-board exactly the same distance from A on each 
arm ; that is, A B must be exactly the length of A C, 
and B D must equal D C. He next cuts a small notch 
at A, so that he can fit a string at the crack between the 
two arms, A B and AC. A notch is also cut at D, to allow 
the weight play-room. When the lower edge of the bot- 
tom-board is placed upon a level, and the string ceases to 
vibrate, it will be found that, the bullet hanging free, the 
string exactly covers a line which has been previously ruled 
across the bottom-board. The line was ruled by placing a 




A Boy's Back-yard Workshop. 



75 



Straight-edge, or rule, at A and D. The slightest incline of 
the base-board will throw the string to one side or the other, 
and show the base to be out of level. 

This implement is a simple thing to construct, is as ser- 
viceable as a spirit-level, and as reliable. 

For buildings, a large-sized level, with side-pieces three 
feet long, is useful. Smaller ones are handy in the shop. 



A Convenient, Home-Manufactured Plumb 

is made by dividing a straight piece of board with 
a black line, exactly in the centre, extending from 
end to end. This piece is notched at one end in 
the same manner as the previous one, and a string 
and weight attached, as shown by Fig. 65. By 
placing the edge of this against a wall it can be ; 
determined whether it is in or out of plumb. 

The boy who can manufacture these two tools 
can, with the aid of other boys, build himself 




A Workshop ; 

and it is possible he can do it alone, but when it comes to 
lifting heavy lumber he will be glad of the assistance of 
some of his friends. 

If the reader is the happy possessor of some old locust 
fence-posts, he has the best sort of material for a foundation. 
Lacking locust, chestnut posts will make a good substitute. 
Lacking chestnut, some carefully laid and levelled stones or 
bricks will answer all purposes. I have seen many an old 
house resting upon four heaps of rough stones, the latter 
having faithfully supported the edifice for years, and pre- 
vented the sills from rotting from contact with the damp 
earth. 



76 



Fair JVeather Ideas, 



Even the ground will answer for 

A Foundation, 

if the dirt is properly packed and drained. All through 
certain sections of this country there are hundreds of hum- 
ble dwellings built upon " mud-sills " — in other words, with 
no other foundation or floor but the bare ground. 

I will, however, suppose that you have secured some 
posts about two feet six inches long and with good fiat ends. 

The better the material you can obtain, the trimmer and 
better will be the appearance of your house ; but a house 




Fig. 66. 

which will protect you and your tools may be made of the 
roughest of lumber. 

The plans drawn here will answer for common or fine 
material, but we will suppose that medium material is to 
be used. It will be taken for granted that the reader is 
able to procure enough two-by-four-inch timber to supply 
studs, ribs, purlins, rafters, beams, and posts, for the frame 
shown in Fig. 69. Two pieces of four-by-four-inch timber, 
each fifteen feet long, should be procured for sills. If this 
is inaccessible, two pieces of two-by-four nailed together 
will make a four-by-four sill. Add to this some tongue-and- 
grooved boarding for sides and roof, some enthusiasm and 
good American pluck, and the shop is almost as good as built. 



A Boy's Back-yard Workshop. 



77 



How to Build the House. 

First laj out the foundation, eight feet by fifteen ; see 
that the corners are square — that is, at right angles ; test 
this with a tape or string, by measuring diagonally from 
corner to corner both ways, and if it measures exactly the 
same you are all right, and may proceed to dig your post- 
holes. The outside of the posts should be flush, or even, 
with the outside edges of the sills and end-beams of the 
house, as shown in Fig. 66. There are to be four posts on 
each of the long sides of the house, at equal distances apart 
— a little less than five feet from centre to centre of each 
post. 

Dig the holes two feet deep, allowing six inches of the 
posts to protrude above ground. If you drive two stakes a 
short distance beyond the foundation, in line with your 
foundation lines, and run a string from the top of one stake 
to the top of the other, you can, without much trouble, get 




Fig. (ii. 



78 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



it upon a perfect level by testing it with your home-made 
level, and adjusting the stakes until the string represents 
the level for yotir sill. When this is done, 

Set Your Posts 

to correspond to the level of the string, then place your 
sill on top of the posts, and test that with your level. If 
found to be correct, fill in the dirt around the posts and 
pack it firmly, then spike your sill to the posts. Go 
through the same operation with the oppo- 
site set of posts and sill. 

The first difficult work is now done, and, 
with the exception of the roof, the rest only 
needs ordinary care, and what old-fashioned 
people used to term " gumption." 

It is to be supposed that you have already 
sawed off and prepared nine two-by-four- 
inch beams, each of which is exactly eight 
feet long. Set these on edge from sill to 
sill, equal distances apart, the edges of the 
end-beams being exactly even with the ends 
of the sills (Figs. 66 and 69). See that the 
beams all cross the sills at right angles, and 




Fig. 68. 



toe-nail"^ them in place. 
You may now neatly 

Floor the Foundation 

with one-inch boards ; these boards must be laid length- 
wise with the building and crosswise with the beams. 



* Toe-nailing, or foot-nailing, consists in driving the nails diagonally or slant- 
ingly down through the ends of the beams to the sill, in place of nailing through 



from the top down to the sill. 



A Boys Back-yard Workshop. 



79 



When this is finished, you will have a beautiful platform on 
which to work, where you will be in no danger of losing 
your tools, and you may use the floor as a table, on which 
to measure and plan the sides and roof. 




Fig. 69. A 



It is a good idea to 

Make Your Ridge-Plank and Rafters 

now, while the floor is clear of rubbish. 

Lay out and mark on the floor, with a carpenter's soft 
pencil, a straight line, four feet long (A B, Fig. 70). At right 
angles to this draw another line, three feet six inches long 
(A D, Fig. 70). Connect these points (B D, Fig. 70), with a 
straight line, then complete the figure A B C D (Fig. 70). 
Now allow two inches at the top for the ridge-plank at B, 



8o 



Fair JVeather Ideas. 



and two by four for the end of the side plate at D. You 
then have a pattern for each rafter with a *' plumb-edge " at 
B and a " bird's-mouth " at D. The plumb-edge must be 
parallel with B C, and the two jaws of the bird's-mouth 
(Fig. 71) parallel with D C and A D, respectively. Make six 
rafters of two-b3'-four-inch wood, one ridge-plank of two- 
by-six or seven-inch wood. 




The " Purlins " and " Collar " 

can be made and fitted after the roof is raised. Set your 
roof-timber carefully to one side, and clear the floor for the 
studs, ribs, and plates. First prepare the end-posts, and 
make them of two-by-four. Each post is of two pieces (see 
Fig. 69). There will be four outside pieces which rest on 
the end-beams. These will be each five feet eight inches in 
length, and four inside pieces, each six feet in length ; this 
allows two inches at the top for the ends of the end-plates 
to rest upon. 



A Boy's Back-yard Workshop. 8i 



Examine the Corner-Posts 

in Fig. 69, and you will see that the outside two-by-four 
rests partly upon the top of the end beam, and the side- 
plate rests directly upon it. You will also observe that the 
inside two-by-four rests directly upon the sill, which would 
make the former four inches longer than the outside piece, 
if it extended to the side-plate ; but you will also notice 
that there is a notch in the end-plate for the outside corner- 
piece to fit in, and that the end of the end-plate fits on top the 
inside piece of the corner-posts, taking off two inches, which 
makes the inside piece just six feet long. This is a very 
simple arrangement, as may be seen by examining the dia- 
gram. Besides the corner-posts, each of which, as we have 
seen, is made of two pieces of two-by-four, there are four 
studs for the front side, each six feet two inches long, and 
one stud for the rear wall, six feet two inches long. The 
short studs shown in the diagram (Fig. 69), on the rear side, 
are unnecessary, and are only shown so that they may be 
put in as convenient attachments for shelves and tool-racks. 

The First Stud 

on the front is placed two feet from the corner-post, and 
the second one about six feet six inches from the first, to 
allow a space for a six-foot window over the carpenter's 
bench ; the next two studs form the door-jambs, and must 
be far enough from the corner to allow the door to open 
and swing back out of the way. If you 

Make Your Door 

two and one-half feet wide — a good size — you may set your 
last stud two feet from the corner-post, and leave a space 
6 



82 Fair Weather Ideas. 

of two feet six inches for the doorway. Now mark off on 
the floor the places where the studs will come, and cut out 
the flooring- at these points to allow the ends of the studs to 
enter and rest on the sill. Next make four ribs — one long 
one to go beneath 

The Window, 

one short one to fit between the corner-post and the door- 
stud (not shown in diagram), another to fit between the 
door-stud and the window-stud, and another to fit between 
the window-stud and the first corner-post (the nearest cor- 
ner in the diagram Fig. 69). Next make your 

Side-Plate 

exactly fifteen feet long. Fit the frame together on the 
floor, and nail the pieces together, toe-nailing the ribs in 
place. A lot of boys may now raise the whole side-frame, 
and the ends of the studs can be slipped into their respec- 
tive slots, the end-posts made plumb, and temporarily held 
in place by a board, one end of which is nailed to the top 
end of the post and the other to the end-beam. Such a 
diagonal board at each end will hold the side in place until 
the opposite side is raised and similarly supported. 

It is now a simple thing to slip the end-plates in place 
under the side-plates, until their outside edges are even 
with the outside of the corner-posts and their notched ends 
under the side-plates, and resting snugly upon the tops of 
the inside pieces of the corner-post. A long wire-nail 
driven through the top-plates and end-plates down into the 
posts at each corner will hold them securely in place. Toe- 
nail a rib between the two nearest end-posts, and make two 
window-studs and three ribs for the opposite end. The 
framing now needs only the roof-timbers to complete 



A Boys Back-yard Workshop. 



83 



The Skeleton of Your Shop. 

Across, from side-plate to side-plate, lay some loose 
boards, for a platform ; then, standing on these boards, let 
your assistant lift one end of the ridge-plank, while with 
one nail to each rafter you fasten the two end-rafters on to 




the ridge-plank, fit the jaws of the bird's-mouth cuts (Fig. 
71) over the ends of the side-plates, and hold them tempo- 
rarily in place Avith a '' stay-lath " — that is, a piece of board 
temporarily nailed to rafter and end-plate. The other end 
of the ridge is now resting on the platform at the other end 



84 Fair IVeather Ideas. 

of the house, and this may be lifted up, for the single nails 
will allow movement and play to the posts. 

The Rafters 

are next nailed in place, with one nail each, and a stay-lath 
fastened on, to hold them in place. Now test the ends with 
your plumb-level, and when they are found to be correct, 
nail all the rafters securely in place ; stiffen the centre pair 
with a piece called a collar (see Fig. 69). Add four purlins 
(Fig. 69), set at right angles to the rafters, and take off your 
hats and give three cheers. 
But do not forget to 

Nail a Green Bough to your Roof-tree, 

in accordance with the ancient and time-honored custom. 
The sides of the house may be covered with the cheapest 
sort of lumber, and roofed with the same material, but if 
you can secure good stuff, use 13 x % x 91^-inch tongue 
and grooved, one side planed so that it may be painted ; you 
can make two side- boards out of each piece six feet six 
inches in length. Nail the sides on, running the boards 
vertically, leaving openings for windows and doors at the 
proper places. 

If you have made a triangular edge to your ridge-stick, 
as in Fig. 70, it will add to the finish, and the roof may be 
neatly and tightly laid, with the upper edge of one side 
protruding a couple of inches over the opposite side and thus 
protecting the joint from rain. Additional security is gained 
by nailing what are called picket-strips (^ x i^ inches) 
over each place where the planks join. Lack of space for^ 
bids me to go into many details, such as the manufacture of 
the door and the arrangement of windows, but these small 



A Boys Back-yard IVorkshop. 



85 



problems you can easily solve by examining doors and win- 
dows of similar structures. 

Figs. 67,72, and 73 show the arrangement of the interior 
of the shop. Near the door and against the window is a 
work-bench with shelves, boxes, and tool-racks. This end 
of the room is called 

The Machine-shop, 

for here are the metal working-tools, wire springs, locks, 
bolts, nuts and all the odds and ends that are useful for 
mending anything, from a bicycle to an umbrella. Under 
the six-foot window is the carpenter's bench for carpenter- 
work. 




Fig. 73. — Carpenter-Shop. 



86 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



In Fig. 72 there is a 

Tool-rack 

across the front of the window for files, chisels, etc., but 
this is only a place to thrust the tools you happen to be 

using at the time. On ac- 
count of the danger of rain 
from the open window, tools 
should not be left in the rack 
after the work is finished, in 
place of drawers, wooden 
boxes are made to fit loosely 
into compartments prepared 
for them. These boxes have 
wooden handles, as shown in 
the diagram, and they will 
be found very convenient. 
There is plenty of room 
under this work-table for 
more boxes when the accu- 
mulation of materials renders 
additional storing-room necessary. Sets of deep pigeon 
holes are very convenient for extra bicycle spokes and sim 
ilar objects. Fig. 73 shows 

The Carpenter's Bench, 

and a few tools stored on the wall. A board with holes bored 
in it makes a good rack for hammers ; saws should always 
hang in an accessible place, and ordinary brass or iron hooks 
may be used for this purpose. 

To Protect your Auger-bits 

from danger of rust, tack a piece of thick cloth or soft piece 
of leather to the wall, using sufficient material to allow a 




Fig. 74.— a Box. 



A Boys Back-yard Workshop. 87 

flap to hang down and cover the bits. Under the flap is a 
number of pockets, divided by stitching the front to the 
back-piece, or by tacking the division lines to the walls. 
(See the left-hand upper corner of Fig. 73.) 

Care of Shavings. 

A barrel or large box or basket should alwaj^s be near 
the carpenter's bench to receive the shavings, and the stove 
must be set in a box of sand or earth, to prevent any danger 
of hot coals falling amid the easily ignited materials in the 
carpenter-shop. (Fig. 68.) The hole in the roof, where the 
stove-pipe goes through, must be protected by a sheet-iron 
ring or collar. 

A Place for Tool-racks. 

The blank wall, opposite the 
carpenter s bench, may be covered 
with tool-racks, shelves, and other 
arrangements for the convenience 
of the young workmen. 

To Keep Small Things. 

A number of old square tin 
boxes, such as certain firms use for 
packing cocoa, mustard, and vari- 
ous other food material, may be 

utilized by simply cutting off three p,^ 75._Tack stick, 

sides, as shown in Fig. 74, and mak- 
ing a shelf with a depression for them to fit into, as shown 
in the sketch. 

This makes a most convenient nest of boxes for screws, 
staples, and similar objects. Each box may be lifted out of 




88 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



the rack by its long back and set where it is handy, until 
you are through with it ; then it may be replaced in exactly 
the same spot, without trouble or annoyance. 
Figs. 75 and 75a show 

A Famous Old Rack, 

which is familiar to all who have lived in the woods. It can 
be made of the branch of any shrub or tree, with the aid of 
a pocket-knife, and nailed to the wall as shown in Fig. 75a. 
Moulding, boards, and picket-strips can be stored over- 




FiG. 75a.— The Famous Old Rack. 

head, resting on the end-plates and the rafter-collar in the 
middle of the roof. 

This workshop has been planned so as not to crowd a 
small back-yard, and if it is built of lumber which presents a 
smooth outside it may be neatly painted, and will not injure 
the appearance of the yard in the least. Vines may be 
trained over the walls of the shop and flowers planted around 
the outside, without in any manner interfering with its con- 
venience as a workshop, or lowering the dignity of the 
young artisans who make it their head-quarters. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

HOW TO BUILD AN UNDERGROUND CLUB- 
HOUSE. 

The muffled sound of voices, interrupted by peals of 
hollow laughter, issuing from the apparently solid earth, is 
a sufficiently startling phenomenon of itself ; but when a 
group of boys and a dog suddenly emerge from the ground 
it is calculated to induce the most prosaic of persons to be- 
lieve that the gnomes of fairy stories are, after all, living 
realities. For the peace of mind of all who may hear the 
mysterious voices and see the apparitions just described, it 
may be well to state that the gnomes are human and are 
members of the Bank-Swallows' Club, and if you hear their 
voices under your feet it is because you happen to be stand- 
ing on the roof of their underground club-house. 

These 

American Gnomes 

use only such magic as their healthy brains and sturdy 
arms can supply, and if they " cast a charm " upon you it 
will be one of the most delightful of all spells— the charm 
of boyhood ! 

The club-house may be built with 

A Doorway at the Top 

of the bank, concealed by a trap-door, or with an entrance 
from the hillside, as shown in the diagrams. If the reader 
chooses the first style he has simply to follow the diagrams 

89 



90 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



here given, and reversing the proportions of the ventilator 
and entrance (Fig. 79), make an entrance of the vent and a 
vent of the entrance. 

The Trap-Door 

must be placed high enough above the surface of the ground 
to prevent the w^ater from running into the house in wet 
w^eather, and a ladder should be provided, by which the 
boys may climb in and out of the house with ease. 



Dimensions of the House. 

The house should be big enough to allow room for a 
table and some chairs, stools, or benches, and the roof be so 
arranged that the tallest boy in the crowd may stand 
erect, with no fear of bumping his head. 

The furniture must be placed inside the frame 
as soon as the floor is laid, because after the 

house is finished the 
entrance is too small 
to admit the passage of 
any object of more bulk 
than a creeping 
boy. 

The hardest 
work is digging 
the foundation 
in the hill- 
side, but if 
six or seven 
boys take a 
the work is soon 




Fig. 76. — Cross-Section of Excavation. 



hand at this, " lor the fun of the thing,' 
done. 






f 





/ 




I o 

: I 

CO 




An Underground Club-house. 



91 



A Cross-Section 

is a picture showing how half an object looks. Fig. "j^ is 
a cross-section of the excavation shown in Fig. 76a. The 
latter shows the finished foundation. 

In Fig. 79 a cross-section of the earth-bank and 



^; 




The Boys' Underground Club-House 

is given, affording an idea of the proper proportions of the 
cave. When the foundation is entirely finished, collect your 



building material. 



92 Fair Weather Ideas. 

If you have 

New Lumber, 

use it ; if not, use old lumber, and if you are building in the 
woods the house may be built of logs and roofed with poles, 
covered with bark and boughs. The better the material 
the stronger will be the house. Secure some good sound 
planks and a supply of long strips two inches thick and four 
inches wide. Use two-by-fours for the frame of the house. 
To give a 

Pitch to the Roof, 

to allow the water which filters through the dirt above to 
drain off at the eaves, make the rear posts, A, B and C, D 
(Fig. y'j'), exactly equal in length, but considerably longer 
than E, F and G, H, as in Fig. 79. 

To add strength, erect another post midway between 
A, B and C, D. 

Framing. 

Cut the sticks A, C and B, D exactly equal in length 
and nail them to the uprights A, B and C, D, as in Fig. 'jj, 
using one nail at each corner; this will adjust the frame 
and make the four corners square, after which you may 
secure them in position by diagonal pieces similar to those 
shown on the end, A, E, B, F, Fig. "jj. The corners may 
then be nailed. In nailing a temporary piece it is only 
necessary to drive the nails far enough to hold for the time. 

Next make the frame E, G, H, F, and in the middle of 
this frame nail on the two door-jambs I, J, and K, L. While 
some of the boys hold the front and rear frames in an up- 
right position and the proper distance apart, others can nail 
on diagonals at the two ends, and, after all is square and 
plumb, the two string-pieces, A, E and C, G, may be se- 



An Underground Club-house. 



93 



curely nailed in place, and the rafter M, O nailed to M, N 
and O, P. This finishes the framework proper, for the 
club-house. 

Passageway. 

To make the frame for the underg-round hall or passage- 
way, first nail Q, S across the door-jambs, to form the top 
to the doorway, after which put in the supports Q, R and 
S, T. Next build the frame U, V, X, W, and join it to Q, S 




Fig. 77. — The Frame. 

by the two pieces, Q, U and S, V, and put in the middle 
frame-support marked Z, Z, Z, Z. 

The passageway should be about six feet feet long, and 
the front doorway (U, V, X, W, Fig. 80) of just sufficient 
size to enable you to creep through with comfort. The 
bottom-piece, W, X, can be nailed to a couple of stakes 
driven in the ground for that purpose. The next thing in 
order is the floor, and to make this firm you must lay a 
number of two-by-fours, parallel to B, D and F, H and see 
that they are level. You will need a number of shorter 



94 F^^i'^ Weather Ideas. 

pieces of the same material, to run parallel to F, H and 
W, X for the hall floor, as may be seen in Fig. 79. Across 
these nail your floor securely, as shown in Fig. 79. 

There Are No Windows 

to the underground house, and but two openings : one in the 
roof for the ventilator, and the doorway, Q, S, L, J, Fig. 
'jj. Since the outside of the wall of this sort of a house is 
hidden by earth, it is not necessary to remove the diagonal 
braces upon the ends or sides, but the inside should be 
neatly finished, and the four sides must be boarded up 
from the inside, after which the side-walls to the passage- 
way may be nailed on from the outside, the boards running 
from the floor to the string-pieces, Q, U and S V, as shown 
in Fig. 79. When this is finished, roof the house, laying the 
boards parallel with A, E and C, G, and allowing them to 
project front and rear and overlap at the sides. Over each 
crack in the roof nail another plank, as shown in Fig. 79. 

The Roof 

may be made without the overlapping boards and the cracks 
covered with strips of tar-paper or old oil-cloth, or the roof 
may be preserved and the cracks filled by treating the 
whole to a coating of hot tar, daubed on with a brush 
made from rags tied to the end of a stick. Any sort of 
roof which will keep out the rain will answer the purpose. 

Gumption. 

The plans given may be, and are expected to be, altered 
to suit requirements. If you use this roofing you must use 
substantial supports, in the way of rafters, and put them 
close together. In all cases, use your common-sense. 



An Underground Club-house. 



95 



Don't put much earth on a frail roof ; it is only necessary 
to cover the boards with sufficient earth or sod to conceal 
the wood. 

Make a long box, of four boards (Fig. 82), for 

A Ventilator, 

and set this over a square hole cut in the roof for this 
purpose. The ventilator should project at least one foot 
and a half above ground, and the top or vent be pro- 
tected by wire-netting or cross-pieces, nailed on as shown 
in Fig. 82. Now spread small brush over the boards, and 
dry leaves or straw over the brush, then shovel the dirt 
back in the excavation until the club-house is entirely cov- 
ered ; pack the soil firmly all around the house, leaving only 
the top of the ventilator and the front door uncovered. 




Figs. 79-83.— Cross-Section of House. 



96 Fair Weather Ideas. 

When all is finished to your satisfaction, conceal the ven- 
tilator by brush or transplanted weeds or shrubs, and scat- 
ter grass and clover-seed over the new earth. Make a 
strong door, after the plan in Fig. 81, and fasten it on the 
front entrance with good hinges and a padlock, and place 
some brush or growing shrubs in front of the door. 

After the Grass Begins to Grow 

there will be little to cause the passers-by to suspect that 
the green bank conceals a room well supplied with chess, 
checkers, boys' books, and everything to make a boy 
happy. 

Dangerous Caves. 

There is an impulse implanted in all boys, which impels 
them to dig caves in every convenient bank, and these caves 
are always more or less dangerous from their liability to 
cave in upon the youthful miners. It not infrequently oc- 
curs that sad accidents do happen to youngsters, who, on 
account of lack of instruction, attempt to make under- 
ground retreats in some sandy bank, by boring a hole in the 
face of the hill. If, however, they make an excavation as 
here directed, and illustrated by Figs, 'j^ and 76a, their 
parents need feel no apprehension, for there is no more lia- 
bility to accident than if they were digging in the home 
garden. Many of these houses have already been con- 
structed. 



CHAPTER IX. 

A BOYS' CLUB-HOUSE ON THE WATER. 

We cannot all be Robinson Crusoes, and real desert 
islands are scarce, but with a little work we can build arti- 
ficial islands, upon which Robinson Crusoe cabins of 
novel designs may be erected, and by forming 

Crusoe-Clubs, 

consisting of as many members as the island homes will 
accommodate, we shall have plenty of company. The 
President of such a club may be called ** Robinson Cru- 
soe"; the Secretary, ''Man Friday"; the Treasurer, ** The 
Goat," and the Captain, ** The Parrot." In selecting a site 
for the club-house, choose a bar or shallow place in some 
small lake or pond. 
Not only is the 

Foundation of the Club-House Submerged, 

but It must be built under water, and every foot of water 
adds to the difficulties. The following plans are made for 
foundations to be laid in water not much over waist-deep. 
For the convenience of the draughtsman, the bottom in the 
diagrams is supposed to be level. 

The Building Material 

necessary is such as the lumber-pile, the farm-yard, wood- 
shed or forest will supply, and the necessary tools consist 
7 97 



98 



Fair Weather Ideas. 




Fig. 84. — Using a Home-made Maul. 



of some mauls, a saw, auger, and hatchet. Make your 
own mauls, by sawing off the ends of hardwood posts and 

fitting handles in holes bored 
in the pieces of hardwood for 
that purpose. Fig. 84 shows 
a boy using a home-made 
maul. 

Should you be so fortun- 
ate as to be able to locate 
your house over 

A Soft Bottom, 

make the corner piers by 
driving a number of stakes 
in a circle (Fig. 84), over 
which slip a barrel (Fig. 85) 
which has previously had both its heads removed. If you 
have no barrels a box, similarly 
treated, will answer the pur- 
pose, and in case you have no 
boxes, cribs, made in the form of 
boxes open at the top and bot- 
tom, may be used. Should you 
be ambitious to build in 

True Robinson Crusoe 
Style, 

drive a number of lono^ stakes 

securely, in the form of a circle, ^^^ ss-Piacing the Barrel. 

in the bottom of the pond, as 

in Fig. 84, and then with grape-vines and other creepers 

weave a basket (Fig. 86). " Crusoe " should know how to 




A Club-house on the Water. 



99 







1] 


ll 


iteL 








WV 


^^T; 


^ "" 






= - 


"^ 








:^8 


k 


t^ 


\,0 






w 


f ]I3=' ,JK 


( 


r^lji 


--I 




^^ 


^yji 


^ 

^ 



Fig. 86.— The Basket. 



do all these things. '' The Parrot " should have charge of 
the transportation of material, and " The Goat " collect the 
lumber, cobblestones, stakes, 
and vines. All kinds of vines 
and creepers are good for bas- 
ket-work, and almost any sort 
of stakes will answer, but " The 
Goat " must see that neither 
poison-sumac nor poison-ivy is 
used. Both of these plants 
must be avoided in any work 
of this kind, as they are ex- 
tremely dangerous to comfort, 
and may cause an amount of 
irritation which will confine 
the victim to his bed for days. 
Where vines are scarce, al- 
most any sort of green branches may be made to answer the 
purpose, willow being especially adapted for basket-work ; 
but all the larger branches should be split in half to make 
them pliable enough to bend without breaking. You may 
now 

Weave a Basket 
by passing the vine alternately inside and outside of the 
stakes in the circle (Fig. 86), and when the end of the 
first piece in hand is reached you must duck your head un- 
der water and push the vine to the bottom of the stakes. 
Beginning where the last piece ended, weave a second piece 
of vine and push it down to the bottom, and so on until the 
top of the water is reached. It is great fun to make these 
cribs, and not at all difficult work, and when they are done 
and filled with cobblestones they make fine piers for a club- 
house or an artificial island, 



lOO 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



The Foundation Posts 

of the club-house should be four or five inches in diameter 
and sharpened at their lower ends, but even then 3^ou will 
probably find that the united strength of several boys is 
not sufficient to force them far enough into the bottom to 



iffliifiMfl 




Fig. 87.— The Foundation. 

prevent swaying. Drive your foundation posts in the mid- 
dle of the basket-crib and then 

Fill the Crib with Stones. 

When the cribs are full, as the barrels are in Fig. 87, they 
will form durable stone piers. Four such piers will sup- 
port a house big enough for from two to four boys. In this 
case the foundation posts should be long enough to form 
the four corners of the house. To make the posts steady, 



A Club-hoMSe on the IVater. 



loi 



nail two diagonal binders on the posts, from corner to cor- 
ner, crossing them in the centre (Fig. 87). 

Let these diagonals be just above the water, and above 
these, and out of reach of waves, nail four 

More Binders, 

in the form of a square, as A, B, C, D, in Fig. 88 are ar- 
ranged. These form the support for the floor, and four 




Fig. 88.— a Finished Foundation. 

more at the top of the corner or foundation poles will make 
a support for the roof. The rest of the work is simple ; it 
is only necessary to lay a floor, put on a roof, and to board 
up the sides to have as snug a cabin as boys need want in 
summer-time. By using more piers you can make a foun- 
dation of any size. 
When 

The Bottom of the Pond 

is hard sand, or stones, the basket-cribs may be built on 
shore in the same manner as described, but in this case it is 
neither necessary nor advisable to drive the stakes far into 



102 



Fair IVeatPier Ideas. 



the earth. When finished the crib will hold together and 
may be removed from the land without dislocating the 

stakes, as the vines will hold them 
tightly in the structure. 

You cannot possibly force your 
corner posts into the soil through 
hard sand or stones, and you 
must, therefore, be content to rest 
their lower ends upon the bottom, 
in which case make a stand for 
them by spiking two short 
boards, in the form of a cross, 
on the lower end of the 
posts, then slip your cribs 
over the posts (Fig. 89). 
While two boys hold the 
post and crib in place the 
others can fill the crib with 
cobble-stones, which will 
steady the post until it is 
made entirely secure by di- 
agonal braces and the four 
binders. A, B, C, D. No 
matter how uneven the ends of the posts may be at first, the 
top of the binders. A, B, C, D, must be exactly level. 
The water, when calm, is 




Fig. 89.— Barrel Cribs. 



Always Level, 

and if you measure three feet from its surface, and mark the 
point on each post, vou can make the binders exactly level 
by nailing them with their top edge exactly even with the 
three-foot mark on the corner posts. The posts may now 
be sawed off even with the binders (Fig. 88) and the floor laid. 



A Club-house on the Water. 



103 



In a Large Building, 
four extra binders nailed to the top of the crib (E, F, G, H, 
Fig. 88), will give finish to the structure, especially if they 
are floored over to the edge of the top floor, thus making a 
step at the surface or under the water. Stairs may be 
built, as shown in Fig. 88. On hard bottoms they are an- 
chored at the lower end by a large stone placed upon a 
board, which joins the lower ends of the side-boards ; but 
on soft bottoms the stairs may be first nailed to two stakes, 
which are afterward driven into the mud. Fig. 90 shows 
the platform finished, and skeleton house erected. To build 
this house place the two 
two-inch by four-inch 
strips, J, N and M, Q, on 
the platform at the re- 
quired distance apart, 
and ** toe-nail " them in 
place — driving the nails 
slantingly from the sides 
into the floor (Fig. 92). 

Temporary diagonal 
Braces 

may be used until you 
have your skeleton house 
far enough advanced to 
fit in some horizontal 
cross-pieces between the 
uprights, and to " toe- 
nail " them in place. Put 
in two sets of braces on 
each side, one above and one below the window open- 
ings, and in the front frame, J, K. L, M, one over the pro- 




FiGS. 90-92. — Frame of House. 



104 P^^^ WeatPier Ideas. 

posed doorway, and two more in the rear frame, N, O, 
P, Q, the latter extending from the upright, N, O, to 
the upright P, Q, and parallel to N, Q, as explained by 
Fig. 91. When these braces are in place your frame will 
be stiff enough to nail on the sidings of slabs, boards or 
poles, and after they are in position the roof may be put on 
with no fear of the structure's faUing. The roof may be 
made of boards, as described in the underground club- 
house. 

An Artificial Island 

can be made, by erecting the corner cribs and bracing them, 
as described for the club-house, and then packing brush, 
loaded with stones, between the boundaries of the founda- 
tion. 

Lay the brush with the stems pointing one way and 
place stones on top, one layer of weighted brush over an- 
other, until you have reached a level two feet above the 
water. Cover the top brush with hay, straw, or old leaves, 
and place a layer of sods over the leaves. 

Upon this foundation you can place as much earth as 
your industry will permit, and you will have a substantial 
little island, upon which grass or plants will grow, and be- 
neath which the little fishes can live amid the submerged 
brush. 




o 

"> 
o 



d 



CHAPTER X. 

HOW TO HAVE FUN AT A PICNIC. 

If feasible take hammocks and ropes for swings along 
with you and don't forget a 

" Joggling-Board." 

This is a very popular invention, from South Carolina, 
and consists of a pine or hemlock plank, one inch thick, one 




The Joggling Board, 

foot wide and ten feet long, which, when supported at each 
end by solid supports, or ropes from the limb of a tree, forms 

105 



io6 Faiy IVeather Ideas. 

a seat which responds to every movement of the person 
sitting in the centre, with a gentle, delightful joggle. 

If you use a wagon, stage, or omnibus, to reach the pic- 
nic ground, start a game of 

Turnpike Loo. 

First divide your party into two sides, the lefts and the 
rights, including the driver. Each side names and counts 
all animals passed upon their respective sides — a dog, cat, 
sheep, pig, cow, horse, or domestic fowl, each counts one ; a 
man, woman or child, five ; an animal with a bell, fifteen : an 
animal looking out of a barn or stable window, twenty; and 
a dog, cat, or baby in a farm-house window counts fifty ; 
the game is two hundred. 

The Driver 

will endeavor to pass all animals upon his side; but the 
leader of the left will get out at times and thwart the driver, 
by chasing and coaxing the creatures to his side. The 
game is exciting, producing much mirth for the picnickers 
and amazement among the farmers and live-stock. 

A great improvement upon the old-fashioned hamper of 
heavy dishes is the 

Modern Pasteboard Box, 

cheap wooden pie-plates, and paper napkins. Wrap your 
sandwiches in a damp linen napkin and with an outside 
wrapper of confectioners' parafihne paper and pack them, 
and everything else you can, in pasteboard boxes. Salads 
and similar foods may be carried in wide-mouthed glass 
jars; mayonnaise dressing, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes 
in the same manner. 



How to Have Fun at a Picnic, 107 



Pack the Ground Coffee, 

with an t^^ rolled in paper, in the coffee-pot. Make the 
^^^ into a bundle large enough to fit on top the coffee, with 
no room to roll or jolt about. The butter or other grease, 
left after the feast, may be melted and poured into the small 
paper or wooden boxes ; a wick of twisted paper or rag, 
thoroughly soaked with the grease, will make a lamp. 
Name the lamps, set them afloat, and the light which goes 
out last is supposed to be your truest admirer. 

The Rhode Island Clam-Bake, 

the Pennsylvania Pond-Stew, the V^irginia Soup, and the 
Kentucky Burgoo, are about the jolliest forms of picnics 
known in this country. 

Resting in the laps of the high hills and mountains of 
Pennsylvania are many small lakes. Here the picnickers 
spend the forenoon capturing what edible aquatic creatures 
their skill can procure, all of which are put into the stew- 
pan along with vegetables, thus making a sort of fresh- 
water chowder of the most appetizing nature. 

Burgoo. 

In Virginia and Kentucky it was an old-time custom for 
the gentlemen to spend the forenoon hunting and fishing, 
and the slaves in the afternoon cooked the game and fish in 
great iron pots, hung over blazing wood fires, thus making 
a most savory dish for the ladies who joined the party 
toward evening. This is the origin of the Virginia Soup 
and the Kentucky Burgoo. • 

The latter is the most famous, and has been enjoyed by 



io8 



Fair Weather Ideas, 



all great Kentuckians, from Marshall, Clay, and Lincoln, to 
the present da}^ 

Since the practical extermination of game, domestic fowls 
are used as a substitute for wild birds. When you have a 
Burgoo ask a certain number of guests to each bring a raw 




The Burgoo. 



dressed chicken, duck, or goose, and others to bring vege- 
tables, peeled and ready for the pot. The head cook, or 
Burgoo-Master, brings herbs, salt, freshly ground black pep- 
per, salt pork, olives, and lemons. 

As a substitute for the old-fashioned, cumbersome iron 
kettle, take a large, pail-shaped 



How to Have Fun at a Picnic, 109 



Clothes-boiler, 

bought new for the occasion. Build your fire between two 
green logs, and use the logs to support the boiler over the 
flames. Half fill the boiler with water and pour in all the 
vegetables and meats, and allow them to boil slowly until 
the bones settle to the bottom and the other ingredients are 
reduced to a pulp. 



It Takes Time to Properly Cook a Burgoo, 

and the contents of the pot must be constantly stirred, es- 
pecially when nearly cooked, in order to prevent the vege- 
tables and meat from burning and imparting a scorched 
flavor to the soup. 

The stirring is done with long-handled paddles, crudely 
whittled by the men. The young people who take turns in 
stirring, walk around the steaming caldron to the time of 
vocal music, and should any maid, by accident or design, 
click her paddle against one in the hands of a young man, 
the young man may claim a penalty. 



When the Soup is Cooked 

it is seasoned to taste, and must be served hot. The olives 
are extracted from the olive jar, and one olive placed in each 
cup, with a slice of lemon. The olive liquid remaining in the 
jar is poured into the hot soup and then the soup is ladled 
out and poured over the lemon and olive in each cup. If 
the Burgoo-Master has attended strictly to his work the 
picnickers will find it one of the most delicious soups which 
they have ever tasted. 



no 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



The preparation of the Burgoo does not employ all 
hands of a large party all the time, and the idle ones may 
amuse themselves with 



A Game of Jack-Fagots. 

An armful of fagots is held a foot from the ground and 
allowed to fall, and then the first player, with a crooked 

stick, hooks out as many 
fagots as possible, with- 
out disturbing the re- 
mainder. The slightest 
movement of a fagot, not 
hooked, ends the turn, 
and, after counting the 
score, the fagots are 
bunched and allowed to 
fall for the next player. 
The sticks successfully 
removed by each player 
Jack Fagots. constitutc the individual 

scores. 
In the afternoon all must join in some games — little folks, 
old folks, and young folks. Choose some of the games 
children play, such as 




Old Dan Tucker. 

By lot, or by old-fashioned counting out verses, let 
chance decide who is to be " It," or Tucker, and let all 
the other males, big and little, select partners as they 
would for a dance, and form a ring around Tucker. At 



How to Have Fun at a Picnic. 1 1 1 



a signal from " It " each player must face his partner and 
sing 

" Hipperty-Hop, Hipperty-Hop ! 
Joyfully now we sing. 
As we hop to the right and hop to the left, 
Around Dan Tucker's ring ! " 

Keeping time with the music the players go, with a 
hipperty-hop step, to the right of the first and to the left of 
the second, weaving in and out until the partners meet; 
then right-about-face and back again in the same manner 
to their places. Next all join hands and 

Circle Around Tucker, Singing 

" Go round and round old Tucker, 
Go round and round old Tucker, 
Go round and round old Tucker, 
As we have gone before ! " 

When the couples are again back in their places the 
song is changed, and suiting the action to 



The Words, They Sing 

" I put my right hand in, 
I put my left hand out, 
I give my right hand a shake, shake, shake. 
And turn myself about ! '' 

Using the same verse the girls now sing, " I put my 
pretty face in," etc. Then their partners sing, ** I put my 
* ugly mug ' in," etc. Then all sing " I put my right foot in," 
etc., and after the last shake of the right foot all again join 
hands and advancing and 



1 1 2 Fair Weather Ideas, 

Crowding on Tucker 
from all sides, and back again to places, they sing 

" Go in and out the window, 
Go in and out the window, 
Go in and out the window. 
As we have done before." 

Changing the refrain, they next sing 

" Go Stand and Face Your Partner," 

repeating three times, and ending with "■ as we have done 
before." At the last word they face their partners and give 
them their right hand, their left hand to the next, and, giving 
hands right and left, sing "Hipperty-Hop Hipperty-Hop," 
ending this time with 

" Now Let Old Tucker Join Us." 

As soon as Tucker has secured the partner he wants 
he shouts 

" Get out of the way for old Dan Tucker, 
You're too late to get your supper," 

and the boy or man left without a partner is "• It " for the 
next game. The tunes for the verses can be obtained from 
the children. This is all taken from children's games. 

Pitch-peg-pin Pitching 

is a great game for hilarious fun. The pegs are sticks, two 
feet long, sharpened at one end, and nine in number. Put 
the pointed ends in the ground, forming a diamond, with 



How to Have Fun at a Picnic. 113 

each peg two feet from its nearest neighbor, and the one 
at one apex about twenty feet from a taw-line. 



Let All the Girls, 

big, little, married, and unmarried, form one side, and an 
equal number of boys, old and young, form the other side. 
The boys then choose a First Lady, who is to lead their 
opponents, and the girls choose a First Gentleman, who is 
to command the men. With three short clubs in her hands 
the First Lady toes the taw-line and endeavors to knock 
all the pegs down, in three consecutive throws with the 
clubs. 

The pegs are then reset, the score recorded, and 

The First Gentleman Takes 

the clubs and his turn. When all have had a turn the indi- 
vidual scores are compared, and the right arm of each man 
or boy is bound with a pocket-handkerchief to the left arm 
of the girl, woman or matron whose score most nearly ap- 
proaches his own, and the First Lady and First Gentleman 
choose up for sides, taking a couple at each choice. In the 
order of their score number, the couples now take their turn 
pitching clubs at the pins, the man, of necessity, using his 
left hand and the woman her right to throw the clubs, 
which they do simultaneously. 

The Scores 

are again compared and the couples bound into fours, and 
the fours into sixes, until each side is bound into a continu- 
ous line, with only the left hand of the end man and the right 



114 /v7/r JVeather Ideas. 

hand of the end woman to pitch-peg-pin with, and make the 
final score of the game. 



Lawn Hab-enihan. 

Mark with a whitewash brush upon the grass, scratch 
with a stick upon the bare ground or hard sand of a shore, 
twelve concentric circles. Number the rings from the out- 
side to the centre. 

Supply each player with a dozen smooth stones, about 
the size of the pahn of one's hand. If you can get fiat, water- 
washed stones, with rounded edges, they make the best 
" Habs." Standing upon the taw-line at the distance from 
the target agreed upon, each player in turn pitches a hab at 
the target, or " Enihan," leaving a stone inside the circle 
struck. But if his hab rests upon a line which bounds the 
rings he loses his turn after the first shot. The player may 
remove a hab from the circle last struck, or set another hab 
in it, or, counting from where any one of his habs rests, can 
move that hab as many circles toward the centre as corre- 
sponds with the number of the circle last struck. 

If this moves the hab to the centre and leaves some 
figures over he can place a new hab forward as many rings 
as correspond with the numbers left over. If any player 
can cast two habs into a circle occupied by some other 
player's hab, the successful player captures the other hab 
and removes it. The game consists of any specified number 
of points, and when any one of the players has no habs on 
the enihan the game is ended. Then each player counts the 
number of his habs in the centre and the number of captured 
nabs, and whoever has the most adds to his or her individ- 
ual score the number of habs left on the enihan. The play- 
ers have three objects constantly in view: to protect his or 



How to Have Fun at a Picnic. 115 

her habs from capture by getting more than one in the same 
circle, to work to the centre, and to capture the opponent's 
habs. This is an exciting outdoor game, which may be 
played with the material at hand, and when two players 
have each a hab in the same circle, and each hab is moving 
nearer and nearer the centre, the danger of a lucky shot and 
capture keeps them *' guessing." 



CHAPTER XI. 

HOW TO BUILD AND HOW TO FURNISH A 
DANIEL BOONE CABIN. 

Imagination is a great thing and can do wonders ; it 
can surround the most commonplace objects with an at- 
mosphere of romance, in which nothing is impossible or im- 
probable. A whiff of smoke from the fireplace where wood 
is burning, means nothing but a faulty chimney ; yet, as the 
smell of burning wood reaches the nostrils, Association 
sets the wheels of 

Imagination's Mill 

whirring, and all unbidden come visions floating through 
our minds of camps, camp-fires, fish — pickerel, bass, and 
trout ; quail, rabbits, and venison-steaks, broiling over the 
hot coals. My, it makes a fellow hungry to think of such 
good things ! Roasted ears of sweet-corn, flapjacks, and 
corn-dodgers, ^' piping hot," pass in a procession before us, 
and, as the sparks fly up the chimney, 

The Ghosts of the Fireplace 

troop in: and a hale and husky lot of ghosts they are, with 
their coon-skin caps, buckskin clothes, and beaded mocca- 
sins. Each ghost wears a strap slung over his shoulder, 
from which hang a bullet-pouch and a curiously engraved 
cow-horn powder-flask ; as they file by, with their long 

ii6 



A Daniel Boone Cabin. 



117 



single-barrelled flint-lock rifles, we are not surprised to see 
among them the great Daniel Boone, his friend Simon Ken- 
ton, and the unique, dashing, Davy Crockett. 

All in vain do the trucks thunder by our windows, and 
futile are the efforts of the clanging cable-car bells and the 
roar of the great city to recall us to the present humdrum 




Home of Young Pioneers. 



times. We are under the spell of the king of magicians, 
and our minds are wandering free in the wild woods ; we 
can even hear the distant wolves howl, and the blood cur- 
dling yell of the painted savage. Is it a wonder that we 
love the generous old-fashioned fireplace ? Is it strange 
that the log-cabin is dear to the hearts of American boys? 



ii8 Fair JVeather Ideas. 



The Log-House 

saw the birth of our nation ; its rude interior sheltered our 
great men, and beneath its slabbed roof heroes were born. 
To-day it is still the most practicable, durable, and simply 
constructed house invented for a forest home, and any boy 
can build a log-house large enough to form a comfortable 
camp for vacation days. For muscles unaccustomed to such 
exercise it is hard work to cut down large trees, and, un- 
less the young woodsman has served an apprenticeship on 
a farm or in a lumber-camp, it is dangerous work to fell big 
timber ; but any lad may cut down 

Trees of a Smaller Growth, 

without danger to life or limb. Small-sized logs save much 
labor in chopping, sawing, rolling, and ''snaking" to camp; 
besides all this, logs of small diameter look best for a house 
of small dimensions. 

Therefore, in selecting the material for your proposed 
house, choose only such trees as are best suited to the 
strength of the builders. There is no rule which fixes the 
diameter of a log or pole, so a log-house is a log-house, no 
matter whether the diameter of the log from which it is built 
be four inches or four feet. When a log is hauled by men, 
horses, or oxen, through the woods, it is called " snaking." 

The " Skid " 

is two or more logs laid on the ground, upon and across 
which the other logs are piled up for use. Common-sense 
will direct you to select only the timber which comes near- 
est being straight, and also to cut the logs considerably 
longer than the length marked on the plan. 








8 

>> 




A Daniel Boone Cabin. 



119 



Fig. 93 shows the plan of a simple cabin, 6 feet wide by 
10 feet long-, inside measurement. 

Fig. 95 is a rough sketch and plan of two such cabins 
under one roof, with a hallway, or " gallery," as they call it 
in the South, between them. Fig. 96 is a plan of the saddle- 
bag. In this sketch you will see how your house may be 



^ 



DflORWAy 



QROUNDPLAN 
6IX BY TEN CABIN 

fj6 03. 



OOORWvAy 



HUN K ^S 



\J 



Figs. 93 and 94. 



ZJ 



3 



V 



enlarged, at any time, by the addition of a duplicate house, 
with a roofed space between the two. 

First decide upon the exact spot where you intend to 



Locate Your Cabin, 

then stake out the cabin according to your plans, and clear 
the ground for the house. 



I20 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



To facilitate rolling the logs as you need them, arrange 
some skids close by the site of the house, and allow them to 
slant toward the proposed cabin. 

If there are any stones handy, 

Build a Foundation 

by making a pile of stones a foot or two high, at each of the 
four corners, in such a manner that the logs resting on these 
supports will be at the same level at each end, level with 
each other, and exactly six feet apart. 

For Floor-Joists 

take a number of strong poles, and, with a sharp hatchet, 
give them a flat side for the floor-boards to rest upon, and 
trim off each end, wedge-shaped, as shown by Fig. 94, the 
rough sketch at the bottom right-hand corner of Fig. 93. 
You understand, of course, that 



The Floor-Supports 

must be of sufficient length to reach from the front sill-log 
to the back sill-log. Nail each joist at each end to the sill- 
logs, and place them 
about two feet apart. 
If it is thought that 
the flooring of the 
cabin makes too 
much work, you may 
build one with a 
"mud-sill," by using 
the hard earth for 
floor and foundation. 
Figs. 95 and 96. Abraham Lincoln 







A Daniel Boone Cabin. 121 

lived in a *' mud-sill" house, and there are hundreds of such 
houses in the Southern States. 

With the exception of the sill-logs, all the logs are 
notched at both ends and on both sides (Figs. 97 and 98) ; 
the sill-logs are notched at both ends, but only on one side, 
as shown by Fig. 98. Logs of the same diameter as the sill- 
logs can be laid between them on the bare ground and used 
for joists, but the best plan is a stone foundation, and a plank 
floor at least a foot or two above the earth. 



Log-Rolling. 

Now is the time to invite all your friends to a grand old- 
time log-rolling ; ask the girls to come and cook the coffee 
and make the sandwiches. 

The two end-logs may first be rolled down from the skids, 
notched and fitted in place across the ends of sill-logs (Fig. 
93), and then the next two side-logs, and so on, alternating 
until the walls are built ; but you must remember to allow 
for the doors, windows, and fireplace openings. When the 
walls are so high that it is a difficult task to lift the logs in 
position, put up a couple of skids and roll the logs up the 
incline, which is better than wasting your strength in trying 
to lift such burdens. When the walls have reached the 
height of the top of the lowest opening, nail some 

Door and Window Opening 

planks, temporarily, close to the proposed opening on both 
sides of it, and on the inside and outside of the house ; this 
is to hold the logs in position while the opening is being 
cut. A, in Fig. 99, shows a binder. After the binders are 
in place, saw the top log through at the proposed opening, 



122 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



to allow room for the saw, and then proceed to build as 
before. See Fig. 98, showing opening over door and win- 
dow ; the binders are not shown in this diagram. 



A Fireplace 

is by no means an absolute necessity for a summer cabin, 
but an open fire is a great addition to a house, and upon 
cool evenings, even in the summer-time, its genial warmth 




Figs. 97 and 98. 

is not to be despised. The protruding ends of the logs, at 
the four corners of the cabin, may be left as they happen to 
be until the house is finished, no matter how irregular their 
appearance. With a two-handled saw, and a boy at each 
end, the ends may be cut off evenly ; this will give a fin- 
ished appearance to the cabin. You can have 



A Daniel Boone Cabin. 123 



Any Sort of a Roof 

which suits your fancy ; it may be framed, as described in 
Chapter VIL, or, by using round poles, it may be framed 
as shown by Fig. 98 and roofed with slabs or planks, as 
shown by Fig. 100, or the roof may be shingled with "clap- 
boards," a name used for shingles or boards, about three 
feet long, and laid on as ordinary shingles are — first course 
at the eaves, second course breaking joints and overlapping 
the first, and so on, until the roof-tree is reached. 

If shingles, clapboards, and planks are out of reach, the 
roof may be shingled with bark; if birch bark is used, it 
can be held in place by poles laid upon the outside of the 
roof, as I have often seen the hand-rived clapboards held in 
place where they use no nails in the construction of their 
homes. 

The Most Essential Piece of Furniture 

for the house, if you are to live in it, is the bed or bunk. 
This can be made in various simple and effective pat- 
terns. At the Sportsmen's Show in New York there was 
an elaborately constructed bedstead, made of the rough 
branches of trees, but however ornamental this style of 
couch may be, it is not essential to comfort, and requires 
time and skill to manufacture, neither of which the average 
boy is willing to lavish on camp furniture. 

The Bunks 

shown in the plan (Fig. 93), are made with two horizontal 
poles, flattened at the ends and upon one side, after the 
manner of the rough sketch at the Fig. 94. These poles 
extend from side to side of the cabin, and rest upon the logs 
of th^e wall, to which they are securely nailed. The ends 



124 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



are further supported by a cross-plank, or pole, fastened 
to the walls, as a support for the side-rods of the bunk. 

Slats are made of sticks split 
in half and nailed to the side- 
bars, as shown in the plan. 
One bunk is placed over an- 
other, until there is no room 
for more, and then the three 
or more bunks are filled with 
straw, hay, or spruce boughs, 
over which the blankets are 
spread, and the bed is made. 

With a mud-sill house you 
can 

" '' 11 ... -^^^i f I.. Make a Lincoln Bed. 

«l \'^^^ ' "~^ "^^^ Abraham Lincoln's father 

fl " I — ^^ 1 f* i/T^^ had no bedstead, and no means 

^^N^^ ^lfc///-/^^'^ — -^ Jg(, , _Jr ~_^ of getting one but to make 

Fig. 99.-Binder and Jamb'for Opening, ^t, and UO tools but an auger 

and axe to make it with. A 
stake was driven in the ground, near the corner of the cabin, 
about four feet from one of the walls, and six feet from the 
other. Auger-holes were then bored in the wall opposite, 
and poles driven into them, the other ends meeting on the 
stake; across these were laid laths rived from an oak, and 
upon them rested the straw-bed of our great President. 




When Your House is Crowded, 

the floor offers space for sleepers, and you may '' choose 
up," for first choice. As a rule the top berth is first choice, 
as in it you feel less cramped for breathing-space, for there 



A Daniel Boone Cabin. 125 

is nothing but the roof above you. Unless the boys are 
more than usually expert builders, there will be no lack of 
fresh air, even when your house is crowded. To prevent 
too much wind entering, it is well to 

Stuff all the Spaces Between the Logs 

with mud or clay, mixed with moss, and while some of the 
boys are in the woods gathering the moss, and others mix- 
ing and dampening the clay, the more skilled mechanics can 

Make the Door 

and hang it in the doorway, which, with the other proposed 
openings, may be now sawed out and heavy jambs nailed 
on, before the binders are removed. The wooden hinge of 
the door can be made of ash, hickory, or oak, and may be 
simply a straight stick or rod about six and a half feet 
long and two inches in diameter (Fig. 105). Bore a hole 
in the upper log over the doorway, about six inches deep ; 
if the log is of less diameter than this, bore the hole through 
the log. Bore a hole in the lower, or sill-log, but make it 
only deep enough to securely hold one end of your hinge- 
rod, and then trim the rod to fit in this hole, making it a 
trifle shorter than the distance between the end of the top 
hole and the end of the sill hole. Flatten one side of the 
hinge-rod, so that it may fit neatly along the edge of the 
door, but do not fasten it on the door until after the rod is 
in place. Spring the rod in place by slipping the top end 
into the top hole as far as it will go, and then pushing the 
bottom end over the sill hole. When it slips in place set 
the door up, in the position it would be when wide open, 
and fasten it to the flattened edge of the hinge-rod, with 
good strong screws. Close the door and mark the edge on 
the jamb, then nail a narrow strip of wood along the line, to 



126 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



prevent the door swinging any farther than it is necessary 
for it to swing when closed ; or make it as shown by Fig. 105, 
and hang it with iron hinges, as doors at home are hung. 




6 Rpo^j^aisii^ 



Fig. 100. — Board or Slab Roof. 



If You Have Money to Spend, 

and men to work under your directions, you can have the 
regulation door, floor, and roof ; the cracks in the wall 
calked with mortar, and a stone or brick chimney and fire- 
place built. In fact, you can make a palace of logs, with 



A Dmtiel Boone Cabin. 



12"] 



plate-glass windows, but you will not have a log-cabin, and you 
zvill miss all the fun to be derived from creating something by 
your own labor, which is the highest sort of joy — the joy of 
the artist! Any ''chump," with money, can hire men to 
build houses which would be impossible for his stupid brain 
and clumsy hands to accomplish. Besides which, the men 
he hired to do the work would be the only ones who de- 
rived any real pleasure from the construction of the houses. 
You must not understand from this that you are to use 

Oiled Paper for Glass, in Your Windows, 

if you can obtain real glass, but that in case you cannot, the 
paper makes a good substitute, and one which was used in 
many a pioneer's cabin. In Virginia there are log-houses, 
still occupied, which have not even a paper window — a hole, 
closed in bad weather by a wooden shutter, being the only 
opening besides the doors, and the moonshiners of the moun- 
tain districts seldom have windows at all, but depend upon 
a front and rear door to supply light for the house, and when 
these doors are closed the fire supplies the illumination. 

The Lamps 

they use, when they have any, are small pans or saucers 
filled with melted fat, in which a piece of rag is placed, and 
furnishes a wick for this primitive light. In 1897 I wa-s 
given one of these '' Betty lights " by a mountain host, to 
light me to bed. 

Every boy's log-house should be supplied with lanterns 
and candles, but the candles must be stored in tin boxes, 
otherwise 

The Brownies Will Eat Them. 

Brownies are the wild wood-mice and flying-squirrels 
which will use your house during your absence, and not only 



128 Fair IVeather Ideas. 

eat the candles, but anything else you may leave unpro- 
tected. They ate up my soap, and then, for dessert, went 
to the kitchen and ate up the stove-polish. In small hou'es 
you will probably not have stove-polish, or stoves. 

After the opening in the wall of the cabin for the fire- 
place is sawed out, you may build up a good, strong wall, on 
the three outer sides of 

The Fireplace 

(Figs. io6 and 107). Build these walls as you did the cabin 
walls, and fit the ends of the logs neatly against the cabin 
logs, and put ** chunks" in between the logs at the cabin end, 
to level them. When the walls are as high as the opening 
in the cabin, you are ready to begin the work of building 
the inside clay-lining. 

It will take a considerable quantity of clay to finish your 
fireplace and chimney, and a rough box, like the mortar-box 
used by builders, will be found most convenient for mixing 
the clay. 

Saw off the ends of some sticks of wood and make some 

Wooden Hammers, or Mauls, 

of them, by boring holes through the pieces 3'ou have sawed 
off and putting handles in the holes. These mauls may vary 
from three to five inches in diameter, and will be found to 
be the most convenient sort of tool for breaking the dry 
clay before it is dampened, and they will also be of great 
service in beating the clay down, for the fireplace and hearth. 
Make the floor to the fireplace and the hearth by spreading 
the damp clay over the space and hammering it down until 
it is hard ; add more clay, and beat it until the hearth and 
fire-floor (Figs. 107 and 108) are level and firm. You may 
then put on enough water to make the surface slippery, and 



A Daniel Booiie Cabin. 



129 




^^^ttfe^^^ 




Figs. 101-105. 



I30 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



smooth it off with a trowel made of a shingle and a branch, 
after the manner of the one shown in the foreground of 
Fig. 98. 

Next Build Your Clay Walls 

on the inside, against the log outside walls, and extending to 
the inside of the cabin wall. Make the clay into the form of 
bricks and build up the jambs and lining, about one foot 
thick, to the top of the fireplace, using wet clay for mortar. 

For the Chimney 

split some sticks and make them about one inch wide by one 
and one-half inch thick, and with clay for mortar build the 




Figs. 106 and 107. 



chimney, log-cabin style (Fig. 106), to the required height, 
leaving a space between the chimney and outside wall of the 



A Daniel Boone Cabin. 131 

house. Plaster it well with clay, especially upon the inside, 
and be careful to keep it plumb. 

A short time ago, while on a sketching trip through the 
mountains of East Tennessee and Kentucky, I saw hun- 
dreds of these 

Stick Chimneys 

which have done service for years. Some of them were 
beautiful specimens of skill, while others had a decided list 
to port or starboard, as a sailor would say, and were appar- 
ently carelessly made. 

In the mountains the fireplaces are lined with stones, in 
place of clay, but in Illinois, where stones are scarce and 
mud plenty, the old-time log-cabin hearth and fireplace 
were always made of clay. 

Besides the berths or bunks already described, a table 
and some benches, or three-legged stools, will be found 
very useful articles of furniture. In a small house a 

Table Takes Up Needed Room, 

and as it is principally used at meal-time, a contrivance that 
may be put away when not in use is most desirable; such a 
table can be made of two wooden horses, with boards laid 
across them. When the weather is fair the table may be 
set out-doors, and when the weather is foul it can be placed 
in-doors. The horses and boards may be kept on the porch, 
if you have one, or in a shed or on the rafters overhead. 

Three-Legged Stools. 

A piece of two-inch plank, with three oak, ash, or hick- 
ory sticks driven into three holes bored for the purpose, 
makes a stool which will last a lifetime. Two such stools 



132 Fair Weather Ideas. 

have been in use for twelve or thirteen years in my Pike 
County (Pa.) cabin, and are just as good as new to-day. 

Now, when your work is done and you balance yourself 
on a three-legged stool, and rest from your labors, remem- 
ber you are sitting on what has before now proved to be the 
incipient Presidential chair. 

General Camp Notes for Old Boys. 

If the boys suppose that their parents are not inter- 
ested in out-door life, they are mistaken, for the author 
never fails to receive a batch of letters from grown-up peo- 
ple, whenever he publishes an out-door article for the boys. 
That the boys may answer the questions put to the author 
by the parents, and incidentally profit themselves by the in- 
formation, the following suggestions to campers are given. 

It will be observed that, when talking to the old people, 
the question of having sufficient funds is not taken as strictly 
into account as it is in all the plans for the boys themselves. 

When You Start for Camp 

leave artificialities and fripperies behind, packed up in cam- 
phor, and bring only your free, untrammelled self with you, 
and ho ! for a frolic, for flapjacks and coffee, sweet-scented 
spruce boughs, camp-fires, and the fireside song, and the 
music of the banjo. Let your first care be to secure cheer- 
ful, happy companions, as the most important articles for 
your camping outfit. 

White flannel trousers and blazers are for the seaside 
and summer resorts, not for camp. You go to camp for 
health and fun, not for display ; therefore leave your good 
clothes in your trunk at the last railroad station, to be 
called for when you quit the woods and once more enter 



A Daniel Boone Cabin, 133 

the land of creased trousers and starched shirts, of stocks, 
long skirts, and ties. 

How the Women Should Dress. 

A woman's camp-dress should consist of a scant, short 
skirt, bloomers, leggings, and stout, broad-soled shoes, loose 
shirt-waist, and Norfolk jacket, the latter plentifully sup- 
plied with pockets. Whatever prejudice a woman may have 
against short skirts and bloomers is soon overcome after 
she has tried to climb fallen trees and rocks, or made her 
way through thick underbrush, encumbered with the ab- 
surd long skirts of the house or street, or after she has 
tramped to camp with a wet and bedrabbled skirt flapping 
around her ankles, caused by a walk in the dewy morning, 
or a paddle in a leaky boat. Women should have their 
dresses made of strong material, with '' lots of pockets," 
like a man's hunting-clothes. They will find their capabili- 
ties for enjoyment greatly enhanced by this, and the men, 
at least, will think them just as bewitching and far better 
companions than they would be if they were dressed in 
city gowns, hats and feathers, and low shoes. 

The Requirements for a Camp. 

Each person in camp should be supplied with a good, 
big-bladed jack-knife ; a woodsman, or, what is about the 
same thing, a person with good common-sense, can supply 
himself with food and shelter, with no other ready-made 
tool than a good strong knife. 

Salt, pepper, and sugar, must be put on the list ; then 
flour in sack, oatmeal, cornmeal, rice, and lard ; crackers, 
beans, coffee in tin, tea in bag, cocoa, condensed milk in cans, 
evaporated cream in cans, butter in pail, pickles, dried fruit 



134 /^<^/r Weather Ideas. 

in bags, a bag of potatoes, molasses, pork, boneless bacon, 
and, if you are fond of it, a few jars of orange marmalade ; 
sal-soda for sweetening *' dubs," and ginger for medicinal 
purposes; several cakes of common soap for dish-washing, 
some dish-towels, and some soap for toilet purposes ; also 
a tin coffee-pot, a long-handled frying-pan, a small griddle, 
a nest of tin pails, the smallest capable of holding a quart 
or less, and the largest a gallon or more ; two or three 
paper pails or water-buckets, two or three iron kitchen 
spoons and forks, and a camp boiler, a firkin and a wooden 
spoon, also a strong axe and a hatchet. 

From the Stand-point of Health. 

It is presupposed that people who intend to spend their 
vacation in camp are lovers of the beautiful ; consequently, 
in selecting a camping-place, a spot should be chosen which 
gives the finest possible view of mountains, lakes, or rivers, 
even if some inconvenience must be suffered in the selec- 
tion. The camp must be dry and well-drained, so that in 
case of sudden storms there will be no danger of the water 
flooding the tents, wetting the bedding or spoiling the 
food. A gentle sloping ground is best. Avoid locating in 
the track or below the mouths of innocent-looking gullies 
or ravines, that may, in case of rain, be developed into 
torrents of muddy water, and sweep the camp like a cloud- 
burst. 

A supply of pure water contributes as much to the en- 
joyment of the campers as to the preservation of health. 
Common-sense will direct that the camp be selected within 
easy reach of some bubbling spring or fresh, uncontam- 
inated brook of running water, but there is another thing 
of paramount importance, and that is a handy supply of 
fuel. The latter is of even more importance than that of 



A Daniel Boone Cabin. 135 

water. With a wooden man-yoke, water is easily trans- 
ported for quite a distance, but no one who has not tried 
it can realize the difficulty of carrying fuel even a short 
distance. 

Making the Shack or Shelter. 

The Adirondack camp is made from the materials fur- 
nished by the forest, and it is put together in the form of a 
shack or shelter, by the woodsmen or guides. Spruce-trees, 
eight or nine inches in diameter, are cut down, quickly 
stripped of their bark, and one of them suspended between 
two trees eight or ten feet from the ground, or is support- 
ed by forked sticks. Others are then laid standing up to 
it, and the incline is shingled with the bark, to keep out the 
rain. Your bed is on the ground beneath the bark roof. 
Put a log at the head, and a smaller one at the foot, and 
cover the intervening space with a thick layer of flat spruce 
boughs, neatly laid, with all the unnecessary sticks thrown 
out ; chop down some young balsams and strip them of all 
their twigs ; selecting all those of about twelve inches in 
length, begin at the foot of the bed and work up, sticking 
the butt-ends of the balsam twigs into the spruce boughs. 
Place them as close together as possible, with their tops 
slightly inclining to the foot of the couch. After all the 
balsam is planted scatter the fine tips of some hemlock 
boughs over the balsam, and spread your blanket over all. 
Kwy bag or pillow-case, filled with hemlock and balsam tips, 
makes a good, sweet-scented pillow. All that then remains 
to be done is to fill up the ends of the shack with brush, 
roll a back-log in front of your camp, and start the fire. 
At night spread your blankets on the spruce twigs, stretch 
yourself out and watch the dying embers of the fire until 
you gradually drift into the sweet slumber of the camper. 



136 Fair Weather Ideas, 

The Brush-Covered Lean-to 

is a triangular tent, open in front, made of one piece of 
canvas fastened to a horizontal pole in front, to the ground 
in the rear, and hanging down at the sides. Over this a 
rude, shack-like Adirondack camp is built, not to keep out 
rain but to protect the canvas, with the green brush, from 
sparks from the camp-fire. In no case must the brush touch 
the cloth, for during a rain the canvas will leak wherever 
any object is resting against it, either from the inside or 
outside. 

A tent is the favorite abode of all campers. They are 
transported with much greater ease than the most simply- 
constructed portable house. A tent may be erected with 
the expenditure of less labor than any of the preceding 
camps, and furnishes a comfortable shelter all the year 
round. Even in the bleak mountains of Alaska tents are 
often used by miners, wintering near their mines. A good 
wall-tent, with a fly and a wooden floor, is protection enough 
for the most delicate of persons. 

Standard drills and yacht twills are better adapted to the 
camper's purposes than heavier materials, and besides are 
less expensive. The list prices of wall-tents, from nine by 
nine feet to sixteen and a half by fourteen feet, are from $14 
to $26. The flies are listed at from $4.50 to $9.70. 

In Tents with Roofed Verandas. 

The Amazon tents are in the form of a lean-to, with a 
roofed veranda, so to speak, in front. 

Shanties are small houses of plank, roofed with plank, and 
are built by the natives, at costs varying with the price and 
accessibility of the lumber. A good, water-tight shanty 
ought to be erected in most sections for about $25. Bunks 



A Daniel Boone Cabin. 



137 



of planks are built in the shanties, one above the other, and, 
when filled with straw and covered with a blanket, make 
comfortable sleeping-quarters. 

Portable houses are now manufactured of all forms and 
sizes, from a child's small playhouse to a two-story frame 
store. These buildings are made in sections; all parts are 
numbered and labelled, and may be put together and taken 
apart at will. Many of these houses are designed especially 
for camps, and may be shipped to the camping-ground with 
little trouble and erected with little loss of time. At the 
same factory may be purchased terra-cotta chimneys, in 
sections, ready to be stacked up for use. Some people pre- 
fer to build a chimney of stone or brick and leave it stand- 
ing when the house is moved, others making stovepipe serve 
for a chimney. 

What is Needed for Table and Larder. 

For table furniture select white blue-rimmed cups and 
saucers, and plates of granite-ware. The gray enamelled 
ware is not as good, for many 
reasons. These enamelled or 
granite-ware dishes are as easily 
cleaned as china, but, unlike 
china, they will not break. Nick- 
el-plated teaspoons are in every 
way as good as silver for camp 
purposes, and should not cost 
more than three cents apiece. 
Knives and forks to match can 
easily be found. Be sure they 
are modern ones with three tines. ^^^- ^°^- 

Lay in a supply of candles, and two or three common 
stable lanterns. You may add to these items as many 




138 Fair Weather Ideas. 

luxuries as your baggage will supply room for, or your purse 
or taste dictate. Fruit syrups, such as are used at reputable 
soda-water fountains, make very pleasant and healthful 
drinks when combined with good, cold spring-water. 
Lemons will keep in a cool, dry place for two weeks, and as 
a garnish for fish or soup not only give an appetizing look, 
which, as a rule, is unnecessary in camp food, but they add 
to the taste and relish, which is a property that persons 
blessed with good appetites appreciate, even when on a 
camping expedition. 




'm^ 



CHAPTER XII. 



FLAT-BOATMAN'S HORN. 



It was in the golden age of 
whittling that wooden bugles 
and the Wabash horns were in 
their prime. 

It is hardly an exaggerated figure of speech to say that 
the United States, with all its power and wealth, has been 
whittled out of the raw material by our ancestors, with their 
Barlow knives. 

I think I have already told the readers, in one of my 
other books, that the practice of 



Whittling 

was not formerly confined to the youth of the country ; 
lawyers, merchants, and statesmen, were adepts in the art, 
and on the counter of every well-regulated tavern was al- 
ways to be found a heap of sweet-smelling cedar sticks for 
the guests to whittle, alter meals. 

Even as early as Puritan times the jack-knives were 
busy, and the little conscience-stricken Nathaniel Mathers 

139 



140 Fair IVeather Ideas. 

confesses that " of the manifold sins which then I was guilty 
of none so sticks upon me as that, being very young, I 
was whittling on the Sabbath day, and for fear of being seen 
I did it behind the door." 

Times have changed since this poor little chap hid be- 
hind the door to whittle a stick, and some of the less con- 
scientious descendants of the Puritans would not dare now 
to whittle on Sunday, or any other day, for fear of cutting 
their clumsy, untrained fingers. But the fingers of the 
readers of this book, I trust, are skilful in the use of a 
pocket-knife, and for them it will not be a difficult task to 
make a Wabash, or Flat-boatman's, wooden horn. 

The wooden horn was the particular favorite of the jolly, 
reckless flat-boatmen. Its soft musical notes sounded 
especially sweet and mellow in the early morning, when the 
boatmen were casting loose their cables from their moor- 
ings. From Pittsburg to New Orleans the reveille of the 
boatmen's horns announced the dawn of another day. 

Descriptions of these horns have come to us from our 
pioneer grandparents, and printed accounts can only be 
found by rummaging among old Western papers. The 
Frankfort (Kentucky) CommofiwcaltJi, in 1836, published 
some verses extolling the boatman's music: 

Oh, boatman, wind that horn again ! 

For never did the joyous air 

Upon its lambent bosom bear 
So wild, so soft, so sweet a strain. 

And this horn was made of the same material as the boat. 
They performed upon a wooden bugle of long conical shape, 
constructed of small wooden staves, which, according to all 
accounts, produced sounds of a wonderfully sweet tone. 
On a beautiful, clear and still morning the echoes of the 



A Flat-boatman s Horn. 



141 



boatmen's trumpets, prolonged at a great distance through 
the neighboring woods and hills which bordered the river, 
are said to have possessed a charm and enchantment which 
none can realize but those who have heard them. 

The Western boatmen were not the only ones who used 

Wooden Bugles, 

for there is an instrument of this kind still preserved in 
Kentucky, and is now, or was a few years ago, in the posses- 





-5oxj;v]T5J:^\5iir2^^5 



Figs. 109 and no. 

sion of Mrs. Annie Mayhall, a granddaughter of Captain 
Robert Collins. 

Colonel Richard Johnson made a famous charge in the 
war of 1 812, and Captain Bob Collins sounded the charge 
on his home-made cedar horn. 

If there are any illustrations of this charge, the bugler 
will no doubt be represented as blowing on the regulation 
brass instrument ; but you must remember, boys, that the 



142 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



artists were not in that fight. Artists have a way of doing 
things up fine, as may be seen by the pictures of our 

Revolutionary Soldiers, 

all in regulation uniforms, when 
the truth is that there was scarcely 
a uniformed regiment in the army. 
The grand old fellows fought in 
their hunting garb, or the dress 
they wore on the farm, in the 
store, the church, or the tavern; 
and while they may not have used 
wooden horns, it is very probable 
that many a Continental bugler 
carried an old cow's-horn, with 
which to sound the reveille. 
But the bugle which sounded the death-knell of the 
great Indian chief Tecumseh was 




The Old Wooden Horn of Captain Bob Collins. 

It was made of two cedar slabs, three-sixteenths of an 
inch in thickness, and these were trimmed and bent so that 
when their edges were joined they formed a funnel-shaped 
instrument which was about four inches in diameter at the 
bell or larger end, and tapered down to a convenient size at 
the small end, or mouth-piece. The two cedar slabs were 
held in place by hoops made of cow's-horn. 

Whether it was a habit acquired in the army, or whethe . 
Captain Bob was once a flat-boatman, is not recorded, but 
certain it is that the doughty Captain always sounded the 
reveille at sunrise, and it was not until 1864, when death 
called the old man home, that the neighbors, for miles 



A Flat-boatmafi s Horn. 



143 



around, saw the sun rise unheralded by the notes of the 
quaint instrument. 

To make a horn like Captain Bob's requires nice work 
in steaming, bending, and joining the cedar slabs, but Cap- 
tain Bob belonged to the Barlow-knife age, and undoubt- 
edly knew how to use one. 

Fortunately for boys less skilful than this old pioneer, our 
ancestors have furnished us another kind of horn, which 
any boy can make. The original sketches, from which 
the accompanying diagrams are drawn, were made for the 
author by a very old gentleman who was himself once a flat- 
boatman and used the Wabash horn. 

This instrument is known as 



The Wabash Horn, 

(see illustration), for it was among the boatmen from that 
river that it was always found. 

Since the introduction of the house-boat as a popular 
summer vacation boat, there is no reason why the Wabash 
horn should not be rescued from the legends of the West 
and hung under the eaves 
of every American boy's 
house-boat, to be used to 
summon the crew, as it was 
in the good old times be- 
fore Fulton filled the waters 
with his steam-boats and the 
air with their ear-splitting 
V listles. 

The Wabash horn is one 
, ., , ... --, . Fig. 112. 

01 the most primitive artairs 

possible ; it is simply a long box, open at both ends, and dif- 
fers from an ordinary box in the fact that one end is very 




144 Fair Weather Ideas. 

much smaller than the opposite end; the big end is the bell 
of the horn, and the small end is the part you put to your 
lips. 

Among the Flat-boatmen 
these horns were made of pine, and sometimes they were as 
much as eight feet long ; but five or six feet will be long 
enough for any ordinary boy. 

Fig. 109 shows a six-foot slab, smoothed and trimmed 
into proper form. It should be less than a quarter of an 
inch thick, and made of red-wood, pine, or cedar, which is 
free from knots, cracks, or blemishes of any kind. Make it 
four or five inches wide at the big end and two inches wide 
at the small end, outside measurement. See that the edges 
are perfectly straight and true ; otherwise your horn will 
leak, and not only be difficult or impossible to blow, but if 
you do succeed in making a noise with it the notes will be 
flat and unpleasant. The other three slabs are of the same 
form as the one described, but to make the openings square 
two sides must be of dimensions given, and with the other 
two you must allow for the thickness of the wood, and 
make them just that much narrower than the first two 
(Fig. no). 

For a Mouth-piece, 

to fit the end of the horn, take a cedar block (Fig. iii) of 
such dimensions that there will be no risk of splitting it 
with an auger, and bore a hole through its centre, after 
which it may be trimmed down to any required dimensions. 
Next put three sides of your box together and fasten them 
securely, with small brads. 

You can now see the exact form of the small end, and 
can whittle your cedar mouth-piece (Fig. 112) to fit the little 
end of the box, and round off the protruding end, as shown 
in the diagram. 



A Flat-boatman' s Horn. 145 

The diagrams of the block and mouth-piece are drawn 
on a much larger scale than those of the slab and box, that 
they may be better understood. 

With a piece of sand-paper, wrapped around a pine stick, 
sand-paper the hole in the cedar mouth-piece until it is 
perfectly smooth. Put the mouth-piece in place, tack on 
the remaining side to the box, and your Wabash horn is 
finished. 

You can now practise until you learn the bugle-calls, 
and then hang it under the eaves of your boat, with a just 
feeling of pride in the knowledge that you are not only a 
boatman, and a modern wide-awake boy of to-day, but that 
you lack neither the skill nor the self-reliance of the boy of 
the day before yesterday. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

THE AMERICAN BOY'S HOUSE-BOAT. 

When the g. at West of the United States began to 
attract immigrants from the Eastern coast settlements, the 
Ohio River rolled between banks literally teeming with all 
sorts of wild game and wilder men : then it was that the 
American house-boat had its birth. 

The Mississippi, Ohio, and their tributaries furnished 

highways for easy travel, 
of which the daring pio- 
neers soon availed them- 
selves. 

Lumber was to be had 
^'^- ^^3- for the labor of felling the 

trees. From the borders of the Eastern plantations to the 
prairies, and below the Ohio to the Mississippi, and from the 
Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, was one vast forest of 
trees. Trees whose trunks were unscarred by the axe, and 
whose tail tops reached an altitude which would hardly be 
believed by those of this generation, who have only seen 
second, third, or fourth-growth timber. 

When the settlement of this new part of the country be- 
gan it was not long before each stream poured out, with its 
own flood of water, 

A Unique Navy. 
There were keel-boats, built something like a modern 
canal-boat, only of much greater dimensions ; there were 

146 




^ 



1 s 



r 




^^ 



-4>' 




^^ 



The American Boys House- Boat. 147 



Some of These House-Boats 

are as crudely made as the Italian huts we see 
built along the railroads, but others are neatly 
painted, and the interiors are like the prover- 



broad-horns, looking like Noah's arks from some 
giant's toy-shop, and there were flat-boats and 
rafts, the latter with houses built on them, all 
recklessly drifting, or being propelled by long 
sweeps down the current into the great solemn, 
unknown wilderness. 

Every island, had it a tongue, could tell of 
wrecks ; every point or headland, of adventure. 

The perils were great and the forest solemn, 
but the immigrants were merry, and the squeak- 
ing fiddle made the red man rise up from his hid- 
ing-place and look with wonder upon the " long 
knives " and their squaws dancing on the decks 
of their rude crafts, as they swept by into the 
unknown. 

The advent of the steam-boat gradually drove 
the flat-boat, broadhorn, keel-boat, and all the 
primitive sweep-propelled craft from the rivers, 
but many of the old boatmen were loath to give 
up so pleasant a mode of existence, and they built 
themselves house-boats, and, still clinging to their 
nomadic habits, took their wives, and went to 
house-keeping on the bosom of the waters they 
loved so well. 

Their descendants now form what might well 
be called a race of river-dwellers, and to this day 
their quaint little arks line the shores of the Mis- 
sissippi and its tributaries. 




Fig. 114. 



148 Fair Weather Ideas, 

bial New England homes, where everything is spick-and- 
span. 

Like the drift-wood, these boats come down the stream 
with every freshet, and whenever it happens that the waters 
are particularly high they land at some promising spot and 
earn a livelihood on the adjacent water, by fishing and work- 
ing aboard the other river-craft, or they land at some farm- 
ing district, and as the waters recede they prop up and 
level their boats, on the bank, with stones or blocks of wood 
placed under the lower corners of their homes. 

The muddy waters, as they retire, leave a long stretch of 
fertile land between the stranded house and the river, and 
this space is utilized as a farm, where ducks, chickens, goats 
and pigs are raised, and where garden-truck grows luxu- 
riantly. 

From a boat their home has been transformed to a farm- 
house ; but sooner or later there will be another big freshet, 
and when the waters reach the late farm-house, lo ! it is a 
boat again, and goes drifting in its happy-go-lucky way 
down the current. If it escapes the perils of snags and the 
monster battering-rams, which the rapid current makes of 
the drifting trees in the flood, it will land again, somewhere, 
down-stream. 

Lately, while on a sketching trip through Kentucky, I 
was greatly interested in these boats, and on the Ohio 
River I saw several making good headway against the 
four-mile-an-hour current. This they did by the aid of 



Big Square Sails, 

spread on a mast planted near their bows, thus demonstrat- 
ing the practicability of the use of sails for house-boats. 
The house-boats to be described in this article are much 



The American Boys House- Boat. 149 

better adapted for sailing than any of the craft used by the 
water-gypsies of the Western rivers. 

For open and exposed waters, like the large lakes which 
dot many of our inland States, or the Long Island Sound on 
our coast, the following plans of the American boy's house- 
boat will have to be altered, but the alterations will be all 
in the hull. If you make the hull three feet deep it will 
have the effect of lowering the cabin, while the head-room 
inside will remain the same. Such a craft can carry a good- 




FiG. 115. 

sized sail, and weather any gale you are liable to encounter, 
even on the Sound, during the summer months. 

Since the passing away of the glorious old flat-boat days, 
idle people in England have introduced the 



House-Boat as a Fashionable Fad, 

which has spread to this country, and the boys now have a 
new source of fun, as a result of this English fad. 

There are still some nooks and corners left in every 
State in the Union which the greedy pot-hunter and the de 
vouring saw-mill have as yet left undisturbed, and at such 



150 Fair IVeaiher Ideas. 

places the boy boatmen may "■ wind their horns," as their 
ancestors did of old, and have almost as good a time. But 
first of all they must have a boat, and for convenience the 
American boy's house-boat will probably be found to excel 
either a broadhorn or a flat-boat model, it being a link be- 
tween the two. 

The simplest possible house-boat is a Crusoe raft,"^ with 
a cabin near the stern and a sand-box for a camp-fire at the 
bow. A good time can be had aboard even this primitive 
craft. The next step in evolution is the long open scow, 
with a cabin formed by stretching canvas over hoops that 
reach from side to side of the boat (see Fig. 113). 

Every boy knows how to build 

A Flat-Bottomed Scow, 

or at least every boy should know how to make as simple a 
craft as the scow, but for fear some lad among my readers 
has neglected this part of his education, I will give a few 
hints which he may follow. 

Building Material. 

Select lumber that is free from large knots and other 
blemishes. Keep the two best boards for the sides of your 
boat. With your saw cut the side-boards into the form of 
Fig. 114; see that they are exact duplicates. Set the two 
pieces parallel to each other upon their straight or top 
edges, as the first two pieces shown in Fig. 115. Nail on an 
end-piece at the bow and stern, as the bumper is nailed in 
Figs. 116 and 117; put the bottom on as shown in Fig. 115, 
and you have a simple scow. 



See p. 100, "The American Boy's Handy Book. 



l^he American Boy's House- Boat 151 



Centre-Piece. 

In Fig. 115 you will notice that there are two sides and 
a centre-piece, but this centre-piece is not necessary for the 
ordinary open boat, shown by Fig. 113. Here you have 
one of the simple forms of house-boat, and you can make it 
of dimensions to suit your convenience. I will not occupy 
space with the details of this boat, because they may be 
seen by a glance at the diagrams, and my purpose is to tell 
you how to build the American boy's house-boat, which 
is a more elegant craft than the rude open scow, with a can- 
vas-covered cabin, shown by Fig. 113. 

The Sides of the House-Boat 

are 16 feet long, and to make them you need some sound 
two-inch planks. After selecting the lumber plane it off 
and make the edges true and straight. Each side and 
the centre-piece should now measure exactly 16 feet in 
length by 14 inches in width, and about 2 inches thick. 
Cut off from each end of each piece a triangle, as shown by 
the dotted lines at G, H, I (Fig. 114) ; from H to G is i foot, 
and from H to I is 7 inches. Measure from H to I, 7 inches, 
and mark the point. Then measure from H to G, 12 inches, 
and mark the point. Then, with a carpenter's pencil, draw 
a line from G to I, and saw along this line. Keep the two 
best planks for the sides of your boat, and use the one that 
is left for the centre-piece. Measure 2 feet on the top or 
straight edge of your centre-piece, and mark the point, A 
(Fig. 114). From A measure 8 feet 10 inches, and mark the 
point C (Fig. 1 14). 

With a carpenter's square rule the lines A, B and C, D, 
and make them each 10 inches long, then rule the line, B, 



152 



Fair Weather Ideas. 




D (Fig. 114). The 
piece A, B, C, D 
must now be care- 
fully cut out ; this 
can be done by 
using the saw to 
cut A,BandD,C. 
Then, about 6 
inches from A, 
saw another line of 
the same length, 
and with a chisel 
cut the block out. 
You then have 
room to insert a 
rip-saw, at B, and 
can saw along the 
line B, D until 
you reach D, 
when the piece 
may be removed, 
leaving the space 
A, B, D, C for the 
cabin of the boat 
(see Figs. 116 and 

117). 

At a point 9 
inches from the 
bow of the boat 
make a mark on 
the centre-piece, 
and another mark 
5 inches farther 



Fig. 116. 



The American Boy's House- Boat. 153 

away, at F (Fig. 114). With the saw cut a slit at each mark, 
I inch deep, and with a chisel cut out, as shown by the dotted 
lines ; do the same at E, leaving a space of 1 1^ feet between 
the two notches, which are made to allow the two planks 
shown in the plan (Fig. 116), to rest on. These planks sup- 
port the deck and the hatch, at the locker in the bow. The 
notches at E and F are not on the side-boards, the planks 
being supported at the sides by uprights. Figs. 116 and 117. 

All that now remains to be done with the centre-piece is 
to saw some three-cornered notches on bottom edge, one at 
bow, one at stern, and one or two amidships ; this is to allow 
the water which may leak in to flow freely over the whole 
bottom, and to prevent it from gathering at one side and 
causing your craft to rest upon an uneven keel. 

Next select a level piece of ground near by and arrange 
the three pieces upon some supports, as shown in Fig. 115, 
so that from outside to outside of side-pieces it will meas- 
ure just 8 feet across the bow and stern. Of i-inch board 

Make Four End-Pieces, 

for the bow and stern (see A, A', Fig. 115), to fit between 
the sides and centre-piece. Make them each a trifle wnder 
than H, I, Fig. 114, so that after they have been fitted they 
canbe trimmed down with a plane, and bevelled on the same 
slant as the bottom at G, I, Fig. 114. It being 8 feet be- 
tween the outside of each centre-piece, and the sides and the 
centre-piece being each 2 inches thick, that gives us 8 feet 
— 6 inches, or 71^ feet as the combined length of A and A' 
(Fig. 115). In other words, each end-piece will be half of 
7^ feet long — that is, 3 feet 9 inches long. After making 
the four end-pieces, each 3 feet 9, by 9 inches, fit the ends in 
place so that there is an inch protruding above and below. 
See that your bow and stern are perfectly square, and nail 



154 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



with wire nails through the sides into A and A' ; toe-nail at 
the centre-piece — that is, drive the nails from the broad side 
of A and A' slantingly, into the centre-piece, after which 
trim down with your plane the projecting inch on bottom, 
to agree with the slant of the bottom of the boat. 

Now for the Bottom. 

This is simple work. All that is necessary is to have 
straight, true edges to your one-inch planks, fit them to- 



I 




Fig. 117. — Cross-Section of Boat 



gether, and nail them in place. Of course, when you come 
to the slant at bow and stern the bottom-boards at each end 
will have to have a bevelled edge, to fit snugly against the 
boards on the fiat part of the bottom of the boat ; but any 
boy who is accustomed to shake the gray matter in his 
brain can do this. Remember, scientists say that thought 
is the agitation of the gray matter of the brain, and if you 
are going to build a boat or play a good game of football 
you must shake up that gray stuff, or the other boys will 
put you down as a "■ stuff." No boy can expect to be suc- 
cessful in building a boat, of even the crudest type, unless 



The American Boy's House- Boat 155 



he keeps his wits about him, so I shall take it for granted 
that there are no " stuffs" among my readers. 

After the boards are all snugly nailed on the bottom, and 
fitted together so that there are no cracks to calk up, the 
hull is ready to have 




Fig. 118. 



The Bumpers 
nailed in place, at bow and stern. See the plan. Fig. ii6, 
and the elevation. Fig. 117. The bumpers must be made 
of 2-inch plank, 8 feet long by about 9 inches wide ; wide 



156 



Fair JVeather Ideas. 



enough to cover A and A' of Fig. 115, and to leave room 
for a bevel at the bottom edge to meet the slant of the 
bow and stern, and still have room at the top to cover the 
edge of the deck to the hull (see Fig. 117). 

The Hull May Now be Painted, 

with two coats of good paint, and after it is dry may be 
turned over and allowed to rest on a number of round 
sticks, called rollers. 

If you will examine Fig. 116 you will see there 

Twenty-odd Ribs. 

These are what are called two-by-fours — that is, 2 inches 
thick by 4 inches wide. They support the floor of the 
cabin and forward locker, at the same time adding strength 
to the hull. 

The ribs are each the same length as the end-board, A and 
A' of Fig. 115, and are nailed in place in the same manner. 
Each bottom-rib must have a notch 2 inches deep cut in 
the bottom edge to allow the free passage of water, so as to 
enable you to pump dry. Commencing at the stern, the 
distance between the inside of the bumper and the first 
rib is I foot 6 inches. This is a deck-rib, as may be seen by 
reference to Figs. 116 and 117. After measuring ii^ feet 
from the bumper, on inside of side-board, mark the point 
with a carpenter's pencil. Measure the same distance on 
the centre-piece, and mark the point as before ; then care- 
fully fit your rib in flush or even with the top of the side- 
piece, and fasten it in place by nails driven through the side- 
board into the end of the rib, and toe-nailed to centre-piece. 
Do the same with its mate on the other side of centre- 
piece. 



The American Boys House-Boat. 157 



The Cabin of this House-Boat 

is to fit in the space, A, B, D, C of the centre-piece, 
Fig. 114. There is to be a i-inch plank at each end (see 
Fig. 117), next to which the side-supports at each end of 
cabin fit. The supports are two-by-twos ; so, allowing i 
inch for the plank and 2 inches for the upright support, the 
next pair of ribs will be just 3 inches from A B, Fig. 114, 
of the centre-piece (see Figs. 116 and 117). The twin ribs 
at the forward end of the cabin will be the same distance 
from D C, Fig. 114, as shown in the plan and elevation, 
Figs. 116 and 117. This leaves five pairs of ribs to be dis- 
tributed between the front and back end of the cabin. 
From the outside of each end-support to the inside of the 
nearest middle-support is 2 feet 6 inches. Allowing 2 inches 
for the supports, this will place the adjoining ribs 2 feet 8 
inches from the outside of the end-supports. The other 
ribs are placed midway between, as may be seen by the ele- 
vation, Fig. 117. 

There is another pair of 

Deck-Ribs 

at the forward end of the cabin, which are placed flush with 
the line D, C, Fig. 1 14 (see Figs. 1 16 and 117). The two pairs 
of ribs in the bow are spaced, as shown in the diagram. 
This description may appear as if it was a complicated 
affair ; but you will find it a simple thing to work out if you 
will remember to allow space for your pump in the stern, 
space for the end-planks at after and forward end of cabin, 
and space for your uprights. The planks at after and for- 
ward end of cabin are to box in the cabin floor. 



158 



Fair IVeather Ideas. 



The Boat May Now be Launched 

by sliding it over the rollers, which will not be found a 
difficult operation. 

The Plans Show Three Lockers 

— two in the bow under the hatch and one under the rear 
bunk — but if it is deemed necessary the space between- 
decks, at each side of the cabin, may be utilized as lockers. 
In this space you can store enough truck to last for months. 
A couple of doors in the plank at the front of the cabin 
opening, under the deck, will be found very convenient to 
reach the forward locker in wet weather. 




Fig. 119. 



The American Boys Hotise-Boat. 159 



The Keel 

is a triangular piece of 2-inch board, made to fit exactly in 
the middle of the stern, and had best be nailed in place be- 
fore the boat is launched (see Fig. 117). The keel must 
have its bottom edge flush with the bottom of the boat, and 
a strip of hard-wood nailed on the stern-end of the keel 
and bumper, as shown in the diagram. A couple of strong 
screw-eyes will support the rudder. 
After the boat is launched the 

Side-Supports for the Cabin May be Erected. 

These are " two-by-twos " and eight in number, and 
each 5 feet 9 inches long. Nail them securely at their lower 
ends to the adjoining ribs. See that they are plumb, and 
fasten them temporarily with diagonal pieces, to hold the 
top ends in place, while you nail down the lower deck or 
flooring. 

Now fit and nail the two i-inch planks in place, at the 
bow and stern-end of the cabin, each of which has its top 
one inch above the sides, even with the proposed deck (see 
dotted lines in Fig. 117). 

Use Ordinary Flooring, 

or if that is not obtainable use ^-inch pine boards, and run 
them lengthwise from the bow to the front end of the 
cabin and along the sides of the cabin. Then floor the 
cabin lengthwise from bow to stern. This gives you a dry 
cabin floor, for there are 4 inches of space underneath for 
bilge water, which unless your boat is badly made and very 
leaky, is plenty of room for what little water may leak in 
from above or below. The two side-boards of the cabin 



l6o Fair Weather Ideas. 

floor must, of course, have square places neatly cut out to 
fit the uprights of the cabin. This may be done by slipping 
the floor-board up against the uprights and carefully mark- 
ing the places with a pencil where they will come through 
the board, and then at each mark sawing two inches in the 
floor plank, and cutting out the blocks with a chisel. 

The Hatch. 

Now take a *' four-by-four " and saw oft eight short sup- 
ports for the two i-inch planks which support the hatch, 
Figs. ii6 and 117. Toe-nail the middle four-by-four to the 
floor in such a position that the two cross-planks (which are 
made to fit in the notches E and F, Fig. 114) will rest on 
the supports. Nail the four other supports to the side- 
boards of your boat, and on top of these nail the cross- 
planks, as shown in the diagrams. 
The boat is now ready for its 

Upper Deck 

of i-inch pine boards. These are to be nailed on length- 
wise, bow and stern and at sides of cabin, leaving, of course, 
the cabin open, as shown by the position o, the boys in Fig. 
117, and an opening, 3 feet by 2, for the hatch (Fig. 116), 
The two floors will act as benches for the uprights of the 
cabin, and hold them stiff and plumb. 

To further stiffen the frame, make two diagonals for the 
stern-end, as shown in Fig. 118, and nail them in; place. 

The Rafters, t 

or roof-rods, should extend a foot each way beyond the 
cabin, hence cut them two feet longer than the cabin, and 
after testing your uprights, to §ee that they are exactly 



The American Boys House- Boat. i6i 



plumb, nail the two side roof-rods in place (see dotted lines 
in Fig. 117). The cross-pieces at the ends, as they support 

no great weight, may be fitted be- 

tween the two side-rods, and nailed 
there. 

The roof is to be made of 5^- 
inch boards bent into a curve, and 
the ridge-pole, or centre roof-rod, 
must needs have some support. 
This is obtained by two short pieces 
of 2-by-4, each 6 inches long, which 
are toe-nailed to the centre of each 
cross-rod, and the ridge-pole nailed 
to their tops. At 3 feet from the 
upper deck the side frame-pieces 
are toe-nailed to the uprights. As 
may be seen, there are three two- 
by-fours on each side (Fig. 117). 

The space between the side 
frame-pieces, the two middle up- 
rights, and side roof-rods, is where the windows are to be 
placed. 

Use i/^-inch (tongue and groove preferred) pine boards 
for sidings, and 



I [ 



, 



Fig. 120.— Inside View of Door. 



Box in your Cabin 

neatly, allowmg space for windows on each side, as indica- 
ted. Leave the front open. Of the same kind of boards 
make your roof ; the boards being light you can bend them 
down upon each side and nail them to the side roof-rods, 
forming a pretty curve, as may be seen in the illustration 
of the American boy's house-boat. 



l62 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



This Roof, 

to be finished neatly and made entirely water-proof, should 
be covered with tent -cloth or light canvas, smoothly 
stretched over and tacked upon the under side of the pro- 
jecting edges. Three good coats of paint will make it 
water-proof and pleasant to look upon. 

The description, so far, has been for a 
neatly finished craft, but I have seen very 
serviceable and comfortable house-boats 
built of rough lumber, in which case the 
curved roof, when they had one, had nar- 
row strips nailed over the boards where 
they joined each other. 

To Contrive a Movable Front 

to your cabin, make two doors to fit and 
close the front opening, but in place of 
hanging the doors on hinges, set them in 
place. Each door should have a good 
strong strap nailed securely on the inside, 
for a handle, and a batten or cross-piece at 
top and bottom of inside surface. A two- 
by-four, run parallel to the front top cross- 
frame and nailed there, just a sufficient 
distance from it to allow the top of the 
door to be inserted between, will hold the top of the 
door securely. A two-by-four, with bolt-holes near either 
end to correspond with bolt-holes in the floor, will hold 
the bottom when the door is pushed in place, the movable 
bottom-piece shoved against it and the bolts thrust in 
(see Fig. 120, view from inside of cabin. Fig. 121, side- 
view). It will be far less work to break in the side of the 




Fig. 121.— Side-View 
of Door. 



The American Boys House-Boat 163 

cabin than to burst in such doors, if they are well made. 
These doors possess this advantage : they can be removed 
and used as table-tops, leaving the whole front open to the 
summer breeze, or one may be removed, and still allow 
plenty of ventilation. A moulding on deck around the 
cabin is not necessary, but it will add finish and prevent 
the rain-water from leaking in. 

To lock up the boat you must set the doors from the 
inside, and if you wish to leave the craft locked you must 
crawl out of the window and fasten the latter with a pad- 
lock. 

Fig. 122 shows the construction of 

The Rudder, 

and also an arrangement by which it may be worked from 
the front of the boat, which, when the boat is towed, will 
be found most convenient. 

The hatch should be made of i-inch boards, to fit snugly 
flush with the deck, as in the illustration,- or made of 2-inch 
plank, and a moulding fitted around the opening, as shown 
in Fig. 117. 

A Pair of Rowlocks, 

made of two round oak sticks with an iron rod in their 
upper ends, may be placed in holes in the deck near the 
bow, and the boat can be propelled by two oarsmen using 
long "■ sweeps," which have holes at the proper places to 
fit over the iron rods projecting from the oaken rowlocks. 
These rowlocks may be removed when not in use, and the 
holes closed by wooden plugs, while the sweeps can be 
hung at the side of the cabin, under its eaves, or lashed 
fast to the roof. 



164 F(^i'^ Weather Ideas. 



Two or more Ash Poles, 

for pushing or poling the boat over shallow water or other 
difficult places for navigation are handy, and should not be 
left out of the equipment. The window-sashes may be 
hung on hinges and supplied with hooks and screw-e)^es 
to fasten them open by hooking them to the eaves when 
it is desired to let in the fresh air, as shown in the illustra- 
tion of the finished boat. 

Two bunks can be fitted at the rear end of the cabin, 
one above the other, the bottom bunk being the lid to a 
locker (see Fig. 117). 

The Locker 

is simply a box, the top of which is just below the deck- 
line and extending the full width of the cabin. It has 
hinges at the back, and may be opened for the storage of 
luggage. 

Over the lid blankets are folded, making a divan dur- 
ing the day and a bed at night. 

The top bunk is made like the frame of a cheap cot, 
but in place of being upholstered it has a strong piece of 
canvas stretched across it. This bunk is also hinged to the 
back of the cabin, so that when not in use it can be swung 
up against the roof and fastened there as the top berth in a 
sleeping-car is fastened. Four 4-by-4 posts can be bolted 
to the side-support at each corner of the bottom bunk; 
they will amply support the top bunk, as the legs do a 
table-top when the frame is allowed to rest upon their 
upper ends. This makes accommodation for two boys, 
and there is still room for upper and lower side bunks, the 
cabin being but six feet wide. If you put bunks on both 
sides you will be rather crowded, it is true, but by allow- 



The Ainerican Boys House- Boat. 165 

ing- a i-foot passage in the middle, you can have two side 
bunks and plenty of head room. This will accommodate 
four boys, and that is a full crew for a boat of this size. 

On board a yacht I have often seen four full-grown men 
crowded into a smaller space in the cabin, while the sailor- 
men in the fo'castle had not near that amount of breathing- 
room. 




Fig. 122. 

Figs. 118, 119, and 120 show 

A More Simple Set of Plans. 

Here the cabin is built on top of the upper deck, and 
there are no bottom-ribs, the uprights being held in place 
by blocks nailed to the bottom of the boat, and by the deck 
of the boat. This is secure enough for well-protected 
waters, small lakes, and small streams. Upon the inland 
streams of New York State I have seen two-story house- 
boats, the cabin, or house, being only a frame-work covered 
with canvas. One such craft I saw in central New York, 
drifting down-stream over a shallow riff, and as it bumped 
along over the stones it presented a strange sight. The 
night was intensely dark, and the boat brightly lighted. 
The lights shone through the canvas covering, and this big 



1 66 Fair Weather Ideas. 

luminous house went bobbing over the shallow water, while 
shouts of laughter and the '' plinky-plunk " of a banjo told 
in an unmistakable manner of the jolly time the crew were 
having. 

Canvas-Cabined House-Boat. 

If you take an ordinary open scow and erect a frame of 
uprights and cross-pieces, and cover it with canvas, you will 
have just such a boat as the one seen in central New York. 
This boat may be propelled by oars, the rowers sitting under 
cover, and the canvas being lifted at the sides to allow the 
sweeps to work ; but of course it will not be as snug as the 
well-made American boy's house-boat, neither can it stand 
the same amount of rough usage, wind, and rain as the latter 
boat. 

In the illustration the reader will notice a stove-pipe at 
the stern ; there is room for a small stove back of the cabin, 
and in fair weather it is much better to cook outside than 
inside the cabin. When you tie up to the shore for any 
length of time, a rude shelter of boughs and bark will make 
a good kitchen on the land, in Avhich the stove may be 
placed, and you will enjoy all the fun of a camp, with the 
advantage of a snug house to sleep in. 

For the benefit of boys who doubt their ability to build 
a boat of this description, it may be well to state that other 
lads have used these directions and plans with successful 
results, and their boats now gracefully float on many waters, 
a source of satisfaction and pride to their owners. 

Information for Old Boys. 

On all the Western rivers small fiat-boats or scows are 
to be had at prices which vary in accordance with the mer- 
cantile instincts of the purchaser, and with the desire of the 
seller to dispose of his craft. Such boats are propelled by 



The American Boys House-Boat 167 

"sweeps," a name used to designate the long poles with 
boards on their outer edges that serve as blades and form 
the oars. These boats are often supplied with a deck-house, 
extending almost from end to end, and if such a house is 
lacking one may be built with little expense. The cabin 
may be divided into rooms and the sleeping apartments sup- 
plied with cheaply made bunks. It is not the material of 
the bunk which makes it comfortable — it is the mattress in 
the bunk upon which your comfort will depend. The 
kitchen and dining-room may be all in one. An. awning 
spread over the roof will make a delightful place in which 
to lounge and catch the river breezes. 

The Cost of House-Boats. 

The cost of a ready-made flat-bottomed house-boat is 
anywhere from thirty dollars to one or more thousands. In 
Florida such a boat, 40 by 20 feet, built for the quiet waters 
of the St. John's River or its tributaries, or the placid 
lagoons, will cost eight hundred dollars. This boat is well 
painted outside and rubbed down to a fine oil finish inside ; 
it has one deck, and the hull is used for toilet apartments 
and state-rooms ; the hull is well calked and all is in good 
trim. Such expense is, however, altogether unnecessary — 
there need be no paint or polish. All you need is a well- 
calked hull and a water-tight roof of boards or canvas 
overhead ; cots or bunks to sleep in ; chairs, stools, boxes or 
benches to sit on ; hammocks to loll in, and a good supply 
of provisions in the larder. 

House-boats for the open waters are necessarily more 
expensive. As a rule they need round bottoms that stand 
well out of the water, and are built like the hull of a ship. 
These boats cost as much to build as a small yacht. From 
twelve to fifteen hundred dollars will build a good house- 



1 68 Fair Weather Ideas. 

boat, with comfortable sleeping-berths, toilet-rooms, and 
store-rooms below; a kitchen, dining-room and living-room 
on the cabin deck, with wide, breezy passageways separat- 
ing them. 

If a bargain can be found in an old schooner with a good 
hull, for two or three hundred dollars, a first-class house- 
boat can be made by the expenditure of as much more for a 
cabin. The roofs of all house-boats should extend a foot 
or more beyond the sides of the cabin. 

For People of Limited Means. 

For people with little money to spend, these expensive 
boats are as much out of reach as a yacht, but they may 
often be rented for prices within the means of people in 
moderate circumstances. At New York I have known a 
good schooner-yacht, 84 feet over all, to be chartered for 
two weeks, with crew of skipper and two men, the larder 
plentifully supplied with provisions and luxuries for six 
people and the crew, making nine in all, at a cost of thirty- 
six dollars apiece for each of the six passengers. An 
equally good house-boat should not cost over twelve dollars 
a week per passenger for a party of ten. In inland waters, 
if a boat could be rented, the cost should not exceed seven 
or eight dollars a week per passenger. 

A canal-boat is a most excellent house-boat for a pleasure 
party, either on inland streams or along our coast. 

Street-Car Cabins. 

Since the introduction of cable and trolley cars the 
street-car companies have been selling their old horse-cars, 
in some instances at figures below the cost of the window- 



The American Boy's House-Boat, 169 

glass in them ; so cheap, in fact, that poor people buy them 
to use as woodsheds and chicken-coops. 

One of these cars will make an ideal cabin for a house- 
boat, and can be adapted for that purpose with little or no 
alterations. AH it needs is a good flat-boat to rest in, and 
you have a palatial house-boat. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

A BACK-YARD SWITCHBACK. 

The back-yard affords an opportunity to build a summer 
toboggan slide, or its equivalent, commonly known as a 

" Switchback," 

the difference being that, in place of toboggans, cars are 
used, and in place of ice and snow you coast down a rail- 
road track. 

The Wheels 

of the back-yard " switchback " car must be made of thick, 
sound wood, and if there is a wood-working factory in your 
neighborhood it will save you time and trouble to go there 
and have the wheels sawed out with the machinery which 
they have built for that kind of work. But if you must do 
it yourself, then select a piece of two-inch plank, and after 
driving a tack in the centre, fasten a string to the tack and 
attach a soft pencil to the opposite end of the string. With 
this describe a circle about nine inches in diameter, or 
measuring about four and a half inches from the tack to the 
pencil. 

With a hand-saw roughly cut out the vv^heel, using great 
care to only touch the circle with the saw, but in no case to 
cut through the circumference. You will now have an ir- 
regular wheel, with a number of fiat surfaces for its edge 
(Fig. 123 A). 

170 



A Back-yard Switchback. 



171 



In this way you may continue to saw off the triangular 
corners until you reduce the wheel to a condition where it 
only needs the application of a sharp knife to round the 
edge until it corresponds with the pencil circle. 



o^«' w'^f^^ 



5^ - ^' 




^^nf^-LS 



Figs. 123-126.— The Wheel. 



VVHE.EI— 



<^ 



What is called 



The Flange 

of the wheel is practically another wheel, made of thinner 
material (Fig. 124), which is securely nailed to the first 
wheel (Figs. 125 and 126), with the grain of the wood of 
the flange crossing the grain of the wood of the wheel 
proper at right angles. The fiange is made of one-inch 



172 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



board, and to prevent its splitting is reenforced by a strip 
of wood fastened on across the grain, with screws, as shown 
in Fig. 124. 

When the four wheels are finished, and a hole large 
enough for a good strong axle is bored in the exact centre 
of each, you will be ready to begin work upon the car. 



Set the Car-Bed Low. 

The smallest boy will understand that the lower the bed 
of the car is put the less the danger of an upset, so instead 

of putting the axle, under 

Fi^'2.7 _^ the car, run them through 

the bed, as shown by Fig. 




128. 



Build the Axles 



FidLi2-8 
Figs. 127 and 128. 



of four-by-four timber, and 
by the aid of a drawing- 
knife or a good, strong, 
sharp jack-knife, trim off 
the ends of the timber to 

the form shown in the diagram. 

When the ends are small enough to allow the wheels 

to revolve freely, saw out places in the side-boards of the 

car (Figs. 127 and 128), into which the square part of the 

axle will snugly fit. 

The Bottom of the Car 

may be made of half-inch boards, which can be joined and 
nailed on to the car, with their irregular ends protruding, 
after which, with a hand-saw, cut off the ends even with the 
side-boards, as in Fig. 129. 



A Back-yard Switchback. 173 

Then nail in place the head and tail-boards, and in the 
same manner saw off their protruding ends, even with the 
side-boards (Fig-. 129). To finish your car it is only neces- 
sary to slip the wheels upon the axles. The wheels may 
be held in place by pegs of hard-wood driven through 
holes in the hub, made for that purpose, as shown in Fig. 
130. You will then have a car, but no track to run it upon. 
However, if you build the toboggan slide which is de- 
scribed in the next chapter, j^ou may lay rails, made of two- 




Fig. 129, Fig. 130. 

by-four timber, down your toboggan slide and thus trans- 
form it into a back-yard '* switchback." 

But if you have no toboggan slide you will have to build 
a tramway for your car against the back fence, wood-shed, 
or any other suitable place. 

In the diagram (Fig. 135) here given, the slide is shown 
as it would be if built against the back fence, extending 
forward through the middle of the yard. But you must 
have a 

Starting Platform. 

You will need four pieces of timber, seven feet long and 
two inches thick by four inches wide, for the uprights or 
corner-posts (A and B, Fig. 131), unless the posts and rails 
of the back fence are on your side of the yard, as in Fig. 132. 
In this case you need only two seven-foot sticks and two 
short ones, to fit on the top rail of the fence. The tops of 



174 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



these short posts should be just seven feet from the ground. 
Nail them securely in place, about five feet apart, as in Fig. 
132, and then see that the fence-boards, to which the posts 



I 




OFTHETENre 

faces your 
Yard 

MA(L TWO 
UFRJGHTS(A&b) 
AGAINST THE FENCE 



are nailed, are secure. If they are not secure, climb over 
the fence and put in a few good wire nails, for if the fence 
is not strong )^our structure will be weak. Additional 
strength may be gained by making each of the uprights of 



P^tstr^;- f^:f^^ thus „,akin.. the 




Fig. 132. 



™-^^^^^^^ 



176 



Fair JVeather Ideas. 



to the structure. If you have any doubts about the ability 
of the fence to support the platform, erect two seven-foot 
posts, as in Fig. 131, and spike them to the top and bottom 
rail of the fence. Next take two pieces of two-by-four and 
notch them, as E and F are notched in Fig. 133. Nail F to 




Fig. 133. 

the top of A and B, and E to the ends of C and D, the two 
seven-foot posts of two-by-four. Near the other ends of 
these last posts nail a cross-piece (G, Fig. 133), and then, to 
stiffen the frame, turn it over and nail on two diagonal pieces 
of lighter material. 



A Back-yard Switchback. 



177 



Erect this frame about five or six feet from the fence and 
secure it in place by the two diagonals, H and H (Fig. 133), 




Fig. 134. 



which are nailed near the top of C and D, and '' toe-nailed 
to the bottom rail of the fence. 



12 



178 



Fair Weather Ideas. 



From the bottom rail of the fence, and level with it, run 
the two J pieces of board to Cand D,and nail them secure- 
ly, as in Fig. 134; then nail on the two top side-pieces, K 
and K, and the framework of the starting- platform is ready 
for its fioor. Nail boards across the top, from E to F, and 
saw off the protruding ends, as in Fig. 134. 




Figs. 135, 136, and 137. 



The Track 



must be a "straight-away," which means no curves to round, 
hence you must build it in the position which will give 
the longest run for your trouble. 



A Curved Track 

means more difficult Avork on the tramway and cars, for the 
car must have a movable axle in order to be able to round 
the curve. But with a straight track the play of the wheel 
upon the hub should allow enough freedom of motion to 
overcome the little inaccuracy which may occur in the rails. 
Experiment will teach you just what is needed. I cannot 



A Back-yard Switchback. 179 

give exact rules, because the material and location will 
differ with each builder, and I have found that when I 
give positive rules, the rules are followed, even when the 
material and location are entirely unsuited to the directions 
given. For this reason it is best for each boy to experi- 
ment for himself. 

Erect the Uprights 

first, and brace them with the diagonal boards, as shown in 
the diagram (Fig. 135). When you are certain the structure 
is firm and can stand the strain and weight of a loaded car, 
lay the two-by-four rails upon the ground, and fit them to 
the car-wheels by pushing the car over them, to see that 
they are just the right distance apart. If you make your 
track too wide the car-wheels will slip off the rails and run 
between them, and if you lay your track with too narrow 
a gauge the rails will pinch the flanges of the wheels so 
tightly that the car will stop, or the rails spread. 

When one section of the track is laid and it is found 
that the car runs freely upon it, nail cross-ties of ordinary 
boards across from rail to rail, like a ladder. Then take 
the ladder, and turning it over so that the rails are on top 
(Fig. 136), adjust it to the tramway (Fig. 135), and fasten it 
securely, by nailing the cross-ties to the side-boards of the 
tramway. 

In Fig. 135 

The Cross-ties, or Sleepers, 

are put in position, to show how they will look when the 
track is laid, but in reality the cross-ties must be nailed to 
the rails while the latter are upon the level ground, as I 
have already stated. 



i8o Fair IVeather Ideas. 

When each section of track is fastened in place, from 
the top of the tramway to the ground, and as much farther 
as your space or lumber will admit, load your car with 
stones, or some equally heavy freight, and start it down the 
"switchback." 

If the car reaches its journey's end with no mishap, you 
can with safety get in the car for the next trip and coast 
down yourself and a jolly good coast it will be. 

The plans (Figs. 135 and 136) may be altered so that the 
car will run down one hill and mount another not quite so 
high, and many other improvements will suggest themselves 
to the young civil engineers who build this '' switchback," 
but the first track you erect should be as simple as is con- 
sistent with strength and safety, and the improvements left 
to some future time. 

Ticket-Chopper's Box. 

You may then take a square box, with a lock and key 
attached, and bore a hole in one end large enough to admit a 
good-sized marble ; use this as the railroad and ferry -men 
use a ticket-chopper's box, let every boy who wants a ride 
drop a marble in the box. 

Some thirty years ago a certain boy built a " switchback" 
in his back-yard, very much like the one here described, 
and great fun he had with it; but as he was not rich, and the 
lumber cost him something, he issued a number of tickets at 
one cent each, every ticket entitling the holder to three 
rides on the "switchback." In this way he was soon repaid 
all the expense he had been under during the erection of his 
wonderful railroad. 

This is what that boy told the writer, and as the former 
young engineer is now no longer a lad, but a grave D.D., 




Under Full Headway. 



A Back-yard Switchback, l8i 

who wears solemn black clothes and preaches long sermons, 
the writer believes him. 

But whether you charge a cent, a marble, or nothing, for 
a ride, you and your friends are bound to have a rollicking 
good time on the back-yard '* switchback." 



CHAPTER XV. 

HOW TO BUILD A TOBOGGAN-SLIDE IN THE 
BACK-YARD. 

Toboggans and sleds are not always used on snow and 
ice, neither is coasting confined to winter weather. 

At most of the summer resorts you may coast down an 
artificial hill, upon real toboggans, over a slide of hard-wood 
rollers, and end with a whoop and a splash in the water of 
the bathing-pool. 

Slipperies. 

All through the southwestern part of this country the 
summer drought causes the rivers to subside, leaving more 
or less high mud or clay banks, which are utilized by the 
youngsters as mud-slides, and called by them " slipperies." 
The boys use neither sled nor toboggan, but make a slide 
by pouring water over the dry mud until they have a long, 
slippery track, down which they coast, ending with a splash 
in the river. 

A War-Time Slippery. 

A good many years ago a battalion of Union soldiers 
were camped on the river-bank, near where some Kentucky 
boys were having fun on a long slippery, and one day, before 
the lads knew what had happened, two thousand naked 
men suddenly made their appearance, jostling each other, 
for a slide down the mud-track. It was a great sight to 

l82 



A Back-yard Toboggan-Slide. 183 




184 Fair IVeather Ideas. 

see these men-children coasting down the mud-bank, and 
the show the soldiers made for them repaid the boys for 
their labor in building the slide. 

Tropical Toboggan-Slide. 

Under the torrid zone, away out on the Islands of the 
Pacific Ocean, the natives coast down-hill, in the hot- 
test weather, on the dry grass, and where that does not 
exist they build themselves toboggan-slides, with slabs of 
smooth lava. Hundreds of these tracks line the mountain- 
sides near the native villages. The sled these daring 
coasters use is from seven to twenty feet long, and as nar- 
row in proportion as a shell-boat, there being only a few 
inches of space between the very hard, polished wooden 
runners. It takes both skill and pluck to ride one of these 
cranky tropical sleds, or toboggans, but the natives possess 
both of these qualities, and without a thought of failure 
pick up their primitive machine, take a short, swift run, 
and throw the sled and themselves together, headlong down 
the lava-slide. There follows a wildly exciting and breath- 
less ride down the incline, and a scoot over the level coun- 
try, until gradually the queer sled slows up and comes to a 
stop ; and then there is a long climb back, for another daring 
coast to the quiet valley below. 

In the United States we have no smooth lava with which 
to build slides on our native hills, and if we did have the 
lava-slides only a few of our boys Avould have an oppor- 
tunity to use them. 

When the snow covers the ground it is not every boy 
who can find a convenient hill where he may enjoy the 
healthful fun of coasting. A great many boys live in a level 
country, and hundreds and thousands of others have their 
homes in cities and towns, where heavy carts, policemen, 



A Back-yard Toboggan-Slide. 185 

and trolley-cars, make coasting a forbidden pleasure. How- 
ever, with a real toboggan-slide in the back-yard, a boy ma}^ 
snap his fingers at a level countr}'', lumbering carts, death- 
dealing cars, and meddlesome guardians of the peace. 

In a day's time three boys can build a slide; but, of 
course, it cannot be built without some labor. If it could, 
it would be of no value. The labor consists only in sawing 
a few pieces of timber and driving a few nails to hold the 
frame together, and it is effort well-spent. 

If Your Back- Yard is Wide 

enough you can run the toboggan-track alongside the back 
fence, with the starting platform built in the fence-corner, 
backing against the side fence. In this way your shde will 
occupy but little space. 

But if Your Yard is Long and Narrow, 

build your platform against the back fence (as described in 
Chapter XIV.), and let the track run along one of the side 
fences. 

The most difficult part of the work is now finished. 
Make 

A Frame, 

on the pattern of C, E, D, G (Figs. 133 and 134, Chapter 
XIV.), and about half the height of the platform (see L, 
M, N, Fig. 138). 

Erect this frame in front of the platform, and at such a 
distance from it as will allow your longest boards to span 
the intervening space, as in Fig. 138. Nail two diagonals 
— one at each top end of the frame M, L, N, and fasten the 
opposite ends of the diagonals to the bottoms of C and D. 



1 86 Fair Weather Ideas, 

Long- boards may be laid from the ground to the top of 
M, N, L, and nailed securely to the frame, and other boards 
laid over the upper ends of the first, and the top of E, where 
they can be securely nailed, and the slide is ready for use. 

The Incline May be Lengthened 

by using a carpenter's wooden horse for another frame, and 
allowing the boards from the ground to rest on this, and 
another set of boards run from this to L, M, N, as in Fig. 
138, or as described for the switchback, in the preceding 
chapter. 

With plenty of snow on the ground it will not hurt a 
strong boy to fall from this track. But there may not be 
much snow on the hard, frozen ground, or your little 
brothers and sisters may be fond of coasting. To prevent 
any mishap, a guard-rail, such as is shown on one side of the 
slide in Fig. 138, should be nailed on each side of the in- 
clined plane, as shown in the diagram. 

The posts for the railing around the platform are '* toe- 
nailed " to the floor, and the rail is nailed on top of them. 
In case the rail seems weak, a diagonal or two, like those on 
the slide-frames, will make it sufficiently strong. 

A Toboggan Room. 

By boarding up around the posts, under the platform, a 
small room will be made, at a trifling additional cost and 
labor, which can be kept warm, and will afford a means of 
shelter and a place to lock up the sleds. 

An excellent plan for 

** Packing" the Slide, or Chute, 

is to mix sawdust and snow together, in equal parts, using 
just enough water to cause it to pack solidly, as a founda- 



A Back-yard Toboggan-Slide. 187 

tion for the top crust of snow or ice. This foundation will 
make the top ice or snow last much longer, in thawing 
weather, than it would if spread directly on the wooden bed 
of the slide. If the snow in the chute is properly and 
smoothly banked up on this composition foundation, moist- 
ened and frozen hard, with the addition of half an inch of 
fresh snow on top, the slide, in ordinary weather, will last 
all winter. 

It is a Wise Plan 

to be ready for any emergency. You may have visitors 
who come without sleds, and who would have but a chilly 
time watching the others coast down the wonderful tobog- 
gan-slide. To prevent the chance of any such disagreeable 
occurrences, knock an old barrel to pieces and build your- 
self a supply of toboggans with the staves. Two barrel- 
staves, fastened together by a cross-bar in front and a piece 
of board for a seat in the rear, will make a most excellent 
toboggan. 

The boy in the foreground of Fig. 138 is building tobog- 
gans of barrel staves, and a glance at this cut will tell you 
how they are made. 



PART II 
RAINY DAY IDEAS 



CHAPTER XVI. 
A HOME-MADE CIRCUS. 

To the typical American boy every object he sees sug- 
gests to him possibilities of amusement, and to him an up- 
to-date bath-room is as full of such suggestions as a diction- 
ary is of words. The great white tub affords an excellent 
sea for his gun-boats to do battle upon, or offers a straight- 
away course over which his home-made yachts may sail, 
while a fan fills their sails with everything from a light 
breeze to a ripping gale. 

What boy has not discovered, for himself, that 

The Bath-tub is a Splendid Receiving-Tank 

for the occasional water-animals captured by him in creek 
or pond, or at the fish-market? 

The laundry tubs are also useful and, not being in de- 
mand as frequently as the bath-tub, are for this reason often 
more convenient. 

If the grown people would only let the bath-room alone, 
there is no end to the fun which an ingenious lad could 
have in that useful little room. 

As a Lake for His Fleet, 

and as a receiving-tank for his water-pets are only two of 
the uses which the bath-tub suggests to a bright boy. 
When he sees the faucet he realizes that this can afford him 

igi 



192 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



power for all sorts of machinery, if he can arrange a water- 
wheel under it to transmit the power. 

Every country boy knows how to make water-wheels, 
and every summer the springs and brooks all over the 
land turn these little wheels in exactly the same manner 
which the larger streams turn the big wheels for the fac- 
tories and mills on their banks. 

But there are thousands of boys in our great cities who 
have never seen 

A Water-wheel, 

and for the use of these boys the accompanying illustrations 
were drawn. 




Figs. 139-141. 

Fig. 139 shows a four-sided soft-pine stick, with square 
ends, and if you have a good sharp knife it requires but 
little work to trim off the four edges of this stick until it 
has the form of a six-sided lead-pencil (Fig. 140), after which 
but little skill is required to whittle the ends down to the 
size of the hole in a thread-spool (Fig. 141). 



( 



The Shaft. 

You will see, on examining the illustration, that the 
middle is left with the six sides untouched. 



A Home-made Circus. 



193 



An Old Cigar-Box 

will not only furnish you with excellent wood for the pad- 
dles of your wheels (Fig. 142), but, if carefully taken apart, 
it will also furnish you with just the right sort of nails with 
which to fasten your paddles to the shaft. 




Fig. 142. 

Make Six Paddles, 

all of the same size and same pattern, and nail one to one of 
the six sides of the shaft (Fig. 142). 

Turn the shaft around to the next face or side, and nail 




Fig. 143. 

another paddle in place ; continue this work until you have 
the paddle-wheel shown in Fig. 143. 

On to one or both ends of the shaft you may now slip 
wooden spools, pushing them up the stick until they fit 
tightly, and leave a projecting end of the shaft sticking 
out of the end of the spool. 
13 



194 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



Hanging-Bars. 

Next take a lath or stick of some kind, which is of such 
length that it will rest securely when laid across from side 
to side of the bath-tub. To this stick tack two others, as 
shown in Fig. 144. 

These hanging-bars must be long enough to allow 
the water-wheel to be suspended just below the faucet of 
the bath-tub. Strengthen your hanging-bars (Fig. 144) by 
two diagonal pieces. 

Fig. 145 shows how to cut a notch near the lower end of 




Figs. 144 and 145. 

one hanging-bar, and a hole is bored near the end of the 
opposite hanging-bar. 

To adjust the wheel, place the top bar across the bath- 
tub and then slip the shaft in the hole in the hanging-bar, 



A Home-made Circus. 195 




Fig. 148. 



196 



Rainy Day Ideas, 



sliding the other end of the shaft into the slot shown in 

Fig. 145. 

If the water is now allowed to run slowly from the 
faucet and fall upon the inside paddles it will set the 




The Circus Performers. 

wheel in motion, and this motion can be transmitted to any 
small and simple piece of machinery by means of a belt 
running from the spool which is attached to the wheel to 
a similar spool, attached to the machine. 

If you Make a Frame, 
similar to that which holds the water-wheel, (Fig. 144) and 
make it with much shorter hanging-bars, it will not be 
necessary to support them with the diagonal pieces. This 
second frame can be reversed over the first frame, so that 
the hanging-bars will set upright upon the cross-bar, and 
when in that position a small horizontal bar may be made 
to revolve by connecting a spool placed upon this bar with 
the spool upon the wheel-shaft, by means of a string loop. 
If this string is not too loose, nor yet too tight, it will turn 



A Home-made Circus. 



197 



the top spool as soon as the water sets the wheel and the 
bottom spool in motion. The illustration on page 196 shows 
how a number of funny animals and men can be made to 
do circus tricks on the bar, to the great delight of the 
spectators. 




Fig. 150. 



Fig. 152. 



198 Rainy Day Ideas, 

Figures Which Move. 

To make these figures so that they will move with com- 
ical, but natural, movements, place a piece of transparent 
paper over the diagrams and trace the outlines, then blacken 
another piece of paper, upon one side, with a soft pencil ; 
next place a piece of clean card-board under these figures, 
over the card-board spread the paper, with the blackened 
side next to the card-board, and over this put the tracing 
paper, and then, holding it so that it will not slip, follow the 
lines of the clown, ape, and donkey, with the point of a 
hard pencil. When the card-board is removed the bodies 
of the clown, ape, and donkey will appear traced upon the 
white surface.* 

In the same manner make tracings of the legs and arms 
of the puppets, and Avith your scissors cut these figures out. 
Using the legs and arms cut from the card-bo-ard as patterns, 
trace around each of them upon another piece of card-board 
with a pencil, and cut these duplicates out. You will now 
have two each of Figs. 147, 148, 151, 152, 155 and 156. 

With the point of your hard pencil, or a darning-needle, 
punch holes in all these parts, at the points marked by black 
dots. 

Next take a small piece of string and make 

A Neat, Round Knot 

in one end of it, and thread the other end through the 
clown's arm, at the dot in his shoulder; then thread the 
string through the dot in the clown's body, near his collar 
(Fig. 146). Now thread through the hole in the shoulder 
of the duplicate arm. When this much is done, place the 

* Another plan is described in Chapter XXIV. 



A Hoine-made Circus. 199 




Fig. 157. 



Figs. 154-157. 



200 Rainy Day Ideas. 

clown upon a table, with the knot underneath, and drawing 
the string up, while holding the clown's body down with 
your other hand, bring the knot snugly against the lower 
arm and tie another knot tightly against the upper arm. 
This last knot can be made by making a large loop, and then 
holding the string in place with one finger until the knot is 
slid down against the pasteboard arm and drawn tightly in 
place ; a second and third knot, tied over this, will make it 
large enough for the purpose, and the arms will be found to 
move freely, up or down (See Fig. 289, Chapter XXIV.). 

Attach the legs in the same manner; if you will now thrust 
a small stick through both the clown's fists you can make him 
take all the positions of a trained circus-man, by twirling 
the horizontal stick between your fingers. 

When the water-wheel sets the bar twirling, the donkey, 
ape, and clown go through their *' stunts," in a most laugh- 
able manner. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



GOOD GAMES WITH TOOTHPICKS AND 
MATCHES. 

The genuine American lad needs no costly toys with 
which to amuse himself, for he has inherited from a long 




Fig. 158. — Rainy Day Fun. 



line of pioneer ancestors a sturdy self-reliance. When the 
inclemency of the weather, or some slight illness, confines 



201 



202 



Rainy Day Ideas, 



him to his home, he can pass away the time with toys of 
his own construction. 



Fig. 159.— Toothpick Puzzle. 



A Toy is a Plaything, 

and a plaything is any old 
thing which chance throws 
in our way, with which to 
play. 

Wooden Toothpicks 

offer many opportunities 
for amusement. I have 
seen grown men, in the 
reading-rooms of our great 
hotels, amuse themselves 
and companions for hours 
with only a handful of 
wooden toothpicks. 

Suppose that mumps 
have invaded the house- 
hold, 
and 



the younger members of the family 
are, consequently, confined indoors, 
with their youthful jaws tied up in 
bandages. If they have no inge- 
nuity they will be fretful and annoy- 
ing to their parents and themselves, 
but if they have inherited true 
Yankee grit and invention they will 
spend their enforced imprisonment 
in a very jolly manner. 




Fig. 160.— Solution. 



Games with Toothpicks and Matches, 203 



Here is 

A Simple Toothpick Example, 

Fig. 159. Let us see you take away 
five toothpicks and leave three per- 
fect squares. 

It is a simple problem, and one 
glance at Fig. 160 shows how it is 
done, but you must remember that 
the other fellows or girls to whom 
you put the question are not supposed 
to know the solution, and unless the 
puzzle-workers are very bright it will 
take some thinking to work out the 
problem — at least it will take enough 
thought to be a source of amusement 
to all concerned. 

When the toothpicks are removed 
and the problem solved, ask them to 

Lift Three Safety-Matches with 
One Toothpick. 

Be sure to use safety-matches, if 
they are to be had ; if not, use burnt 
matches, for there is no fun playing 
with toys which are liable 
to ignite and cause much 
more serious results than a 
case of mumps. 

After all the party have 
tried in vain to lift the three 
matches with the aid of one 
toothpick, you may show 
them how the trick is done. 




Fig. 164. 




204 Rainy Day Ideas. 



Explanation. 

Fig. i6i shows the first match, which has been split at the 
tail-end with the blade of a pocket-knife; Fig. 162 shows 
another match, which has had the tail-end whittled to a 
wedge-shaped edge, and Fig. 163 shows the two matches 
joined by forcing the wedge end of one match into the split 
end of the other. Fig. 164 shows the third match, placed 
across the ends of the other two matches. 

If you will now pass the toothpick under the first two 
matches and over the last, as illustrated by the diagram, 
Fig. 164, it is a simple task to lift the three matches and 
show your playmates how a seemingly impossible propo- 
sition becomes a thing of great simplicity when it is solved 
(Fig, 165.) 

A Spring-Bed. 

Now take a toothpick. Fig. 166, and place another one 
across it, as in Fig. 167 ; cross these two toothpicks, in their 





Fig. 166. 

Fig. 167. 

centre, with a third, as in Fig. 168 ; then run a fourth under 
the ends of the two side toothpicks and over the end of the 
middle one, as in Fig. 169. 

When the fifth toothpick is run under the other ends of 



Games with Toothpicks and Matches. 205 



the two crossed picks and over the free end of the centre 
toothpick, you will have Fig. 170. 

What is Fig. 170? Well, it is almost anything you wish : 





Fig. 168. Fig. 169. 

it is a gate, a section of a fence, or a spring-bed. Fig. 171 
shows the spring-bed, and to prove that it is a real spring- 
bed, if you will set it on the hearth, where there can be no 
danger from fire, you may light one leg of the bed with a 





Fig. 170. 



Fig. 171. 



match, then stand back and watch the flame eat its way to 
the first joint. When this joint is reached the spring is 
freed, and the bed flies to pieces, which proves that it is 
really a spring-bed. 



2o6 Rainy Day Ideas, 



Artificial Water. 

If you wish something to represent water, take a small 
looking-glass and place it flat on the floor or a table. Upon 
the surface of your glass lake you can place paper boats, and 
build shores by heaping books around the edge. Spanning 
the water you may have a beautiful bridge of toothpicks or 
safety-matches. 

A Bridge of Matches. 

This bridge requires patience and deft fingers to build, 
but both patience and skill are necessary in golf, football, 




Fig. 172. Fig. 173. 

boating, the school, the counting-house, and in art or music, 
so you must not be discouraged if your frail match bridge 
falls to pieces just when you think the thing is about fin- 
ished. Remember that an occasional failure is more than 
half the fun ; start over again by placing two matches on the 
table and placing a third match across them, as in Fig. 172; 
then another match under them, as in Fig. 173. Some 
matches are made of such brittle stuff as to be unsuited for 
this, and others are too short and thick to bend, but good 
slender matches can be used, and wooden toothpicks are 
even better. 



Games with Toothpicks and Matches. 207 




Fig. 174 shows the next step is to thrust two matches 
under the under match and over the match which is on top 
and across the first two ; 
the spring in the matches 
will hold this frame to- 
gether. More and more 
matches may be added, in 
the same manner as the first 
(Fig. 175), until the arch 
is of the required length : 

that is, until it is long ^^ '^* ^^'^' 

enough to reach from shore to shore of the looking-glass 
lake. 

If you will now build 

Two Piers, 

or abutments, of matches, by placing a couple of sticks on 
each side of the water for the foundations — the two sticks to 
be parallel with each other — and two more across the ends 
of these, log-cabin fashion, until the piers are about two 
inches high, facing each other from opposite sides of the 
looking-glass, you may set your arch across, from pier to 
pier. 

Two Approaches to the Bridge 

must now be built, in the same manner as the arch, so that 
the arch can be reached from the shore (Fig. 176), and you 
will then have a pretty little structure, spanning a calm and 
dainty sheet of water. 

If you are still not satisfied with the results of your 
skill, you may 

Add a Roof 
to each of your bridge piers, by erecting sides made on the 
pattern of Fig. 170, and either capping them with a paper 



2o8 Rainy Day Ideas. 

roof or log-cabin built pyramids, composed of pieces of 
matches of different lengths, growing smaller toward the 
top. 

A Paper Flag, 

upon the end of a broom-straw, will add dignity and effect 
to your bridge ; erect it by thrusting the lower end of the 
flag-staff through the roof and pier. 

Tiring of bridges and puzzles, you can lay out 

A Pioneer Settlement, 

and with toothpicks and matches build log-cabins, such as 
those in which our ancestors lived when this land was cov- 
ered with vast forests of trees and populated with painted 
Indians and wild beasts. Roof 3^our houses with cards 
bent in the shape of a roof, and build your chimneys at 
one end of the house. 

The Chimneys 

in all log-cabins are built outside and against one end of the 
house, and are usually made of sticks and mud, or stones 
and mud ; but as the rooms in an ordinary dwelling or flat 
furnish neither stones nor clay, you must do as our ancestors 
did : use the material at hand ; which, in your case, will 
probably be spools from your mother's work-basket. Set 
the spools, one on top of another, against the end of your 
match-stick house and your work is done. 

Not only is your work done, but, if you have followed all 
these directions, probably the day is also done, and you are 
ready for bed and to dream of living in safety-match houses 
near the shores of a looking-glass lake ; and as you listen you 
will hear the glass waves breaking on the shore, and the 
howl of the toothpick timber-wolves as they steal among 



Games with Toothpicks and Matches. 209 

the rocky crags, made of spelling-books, arithmetics and 
dictionaries ; or you may be startled from your sleep by the 
crack of a match-gun and the answering boom of a spool- 
cannon ; but these things will only make your sleep the 
more peaceful and refreshing. 




Figs. 175 and 176.— The Toothpick Bridge. 



14 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

FUN WITH SCISSORS AND PASTEBOARD AND 

PAPER. 

In winter there are always some blustering-, windy days, 
when the raw winds from off the ocean howl through our 
streets, making the lives of pedestrians miserable; or days 
when slush and sleet cause us to wish that we could stay in 
the house until winter was packed away in last year's 
almanac. 

During such weather there is no fun to be had outdoors, 
and we must look for our amusement inside the four walls 
of our homes. 

It is not every city boy who has an old-fashioned attic 
to romp in during bad weather, nor even a basement 
where he can seek to amuse himself building sleds or 
other outdoor appliances, for use when the weather will 
permit. 

Many lads are confined in the narrow rooms of flats, and 
must needs fret and worry when the bad weather imprisons 
them in their narrow home-quarters. 

But if such boys will stop quarrelling among themselves, 
and cease for a moment teasing the cat, or in other ways 
adding to the worries of their dear mamma, they may, by 
following the directions given here, find amusement and 
fun — not only for this particular bad day, but for all the 
stormy weather of the winter. 

210 



Scissors and Pasteboard. 



211 



How to Make the Sleigh. 

Fold a card or a piece of card-board in the middle, and 
with a pair of shears cut a curved piece off one end, as in 
Fig. 177. 

Now take a sharp penknife and cut along the black lines 




F^ISO 




Figs. 177-181.— The Card Sleigh. 



of Fig. 178. When you spread out the card you will have 
Fig. 179, and if you bend up all the flaps and bend down the 
runners, giving the latter a pinch where they meet in the 
centre, you will have as dainty a little sleigh as old Santa 
Claus ever owned (Fig. 180). 

The seats to the sleigh are simply made, being two 
strips of card-board with the corners bent down (Fig. 181). 



212 



Rainy Day Ideas, 



How to Make the Horses. 

The horses are more difficult to make, especially for 
boys who do not know how to draw a horse ; but if such 




Fig, i83, 



Scissors and Pasteboard. 



213 



youngsters will read the preceding chapter it will tell them 
how to make a tracing, and they may make an exact repro- 
duction of this horse by reversing the tracing and placing a 
clean piece of card-board underneath it, and then, with a 
lead-pencil, drawing over all the lines as they are in the 
illustration. When the card-board is removed they will 
fmd a faint outline of the horse upon the card-board. 



To Cut Out the Horse, 

commence at A (Fig. 182), and cut down to B ; then fold the 
card-board carefully along the line of the back of the horse, 
BC. 

BC will now be the top fold and ED will be down to 
the feet of the horse, while AB will stand up above the 
back, because AB has not been folded. 

The rest is not hard work, for any child can follow the 
outline with the scissors, 
and the result will be a 
paper horse with four legs, 
upon which it can stand 
(Fig. 183). 

Figs. 184, 185, and 186 
can be traced in the same 
manner as the horse, and 
afterward cut out, leaving a 
pointed piece of card-board 
hanging down, which we 
stick through slits cut in the seats (Fig. 181), and in this 
manner make the driver and the passengers sit firmly in the 
sleigh. 

The Tongue, or Pole. 

A small, smooth stick will answer for the pole to the 
sleigh, and it may be fastened with a piece of thread to the 




Fig. 183.— The Paper Horse. 



214 Rainy Day Ideas. 



Fig. 1S4. 




Fig. 187 



Fig. iS8 





Scissors and Pasteboard. 



215 



centre of a wooden toothpick which has been previously 

thrust throu^^h the front runners of the sleigh, as in Fig. 

191. The harness and reins are 

simply strings tied to wooden 

whiflletreesand run through holes 

punched in the horses at the 

proper places. 

A broom-straw, pushed through 
a hole in the driver's hand, will 
do service for a whip, and you 
may now have a grand spiked 
team of five horses, if you choose 
to make that number, or a sim- 
ple two-horse or even one-horse 
sleigh, as you may choose to make 
it: the number of horses being limited only by the industry 
of their creators. 

The Pasteboard Soldiers. 

For a bold soldier man, make the horse just as you made 
the sleigh horse, but a cavalryman needs a saddle, and if 
you cut out the protruding front of the saddle first and then 




Fig. 190. 




Fig. 191. 



fold it as you did with the horse, you may make a saddle 
similar to Fig. 188. The girth and stirrups are put on after 
the saddle is cut out, the girth being a band of ribbon run 



2l6 



Rainy Day Ideas. 




through slits in the saddle and fastened around the paper 
horse. 

The Stirrups 

are cut out of card-board, and fastened to the saddle with 
short strings. The saddle-cloth, Fig. 189, is a piece of 
paper, folded as shown in the diagram. 

Trace the soldier, Fig. 187, 

in the manner already de- 

'^^ scribed, then cut him out 

and set him upon his saddled 

charger. 

Make reins of string and 
run the string through a hole 
punched in the horse's mouth 
— where the bit should be — 
and through a hole 
punched in the sol- 
dier's hand. Put the 
cavalryman's feet in 
the paste-board stir- 
rups and you have 
Fig. 190 — a bold sol- 
dier man, ready for 
a parade, or to fight with the English or against them. In 



1 



\db 




fact, so perfect a soldier and 



Such an Ideal Soldier 

is this pasteboard man, that he will never question your 
orders, but fight on any side you choose to put him, and when 
he is worn out in the service he will utter no complaint if 
he is buried in the waste-paper basket, or even used for the 
purpose of kindling the kitchen fire. 



Scissors and Pasteboard, 



217 



o 
r 



pi5 196 



Make an Army. 

If you are successful in making one soldier, with industry 
you may make a whole regiment of them, and then stand 
them in battle array and shoot F'g 1 95 

them down with a pea-shooter. 

Your conscience need not 
bother you in the least, if you 
slay a whole regiment, for the 
poor fellows won't care a cent, 
and they will leave no widows 
and orphans behind to mourn 
for them. In fact, you can 
bring them all to life again, the 
next time you want a battle, by 
simply setting them upright 
upon their horses once more. 

It sometimes happens that 
boys tire of soldiers and their 
murderous weapons, although 
both the soldier and his arms 
be but harmless paper. 

At such a time the reader 
can put away his paper war- 
riors and proclaim to his play- 
mates that he is a wizard, and 
can 

Walk through the Centre of 
a Visiting Card. 

He may prove that this is no vain 
boast by folding the card, Fig. 192, 
across its centre (Fig. 193), and with 
scissors cutting slits where the lines are drawn on Fig. 193. 

When the card is unfolded it will be found to resemble 



ti 

o 

r 



f.ft 198 



F'^ IQ? 




2l8 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



Fig. 194, and may be stretched carefully until it can be 
passed over the head, down over the body to the feet ; then 
as the self-proclaimed wizard steps out of the card he may 

truthfully say that he has 
walked through a visiting 
card. 

After this he may enter- 
tain his playmates by mak- 
ing a 

Grandmother's Reticule 

of a square piece of paper 
(Fig. 195), which he folds at 
the dotted centre line (Fig. 
196), and folds again across its 
centre (Fig. 197). The next 
fold is a diagonal one, from 
corner to corner (Fig 198). 

With the scissors he cuts 
Fig. 198, as shown by the 
ruled lines on Fig. 199. 

Carefully unfolding the 
paper he puts a marble or 
some other weight in the centre, which stretches the paper 
to the form of a paper reticule, Fig. 200. 

Speaking of grandmothers reminds us of old times, when 
above the open grate fireplace the mantel and panelling 
was painted a sombre black. 

The boys then used to amuse themselves by folding 
pieces of paper in the form of Fig. 198, and then cutting 

"Any Old Thing" 
out with the scissors— the result being that when the 




( 



Fig. 200. 



Scissors and Pasteboard. 



219 



paper was unfolded the 
meaningless " thing '* re- 
solved itself into a beau- 
tiful geometrical pattern, 
which showed to great 
advantage when stuck 
upon the black wood- 
work of the mantel. 

Benjamin Franklin, 
Benjamin Harrison, and 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., were 
appointed a committee 
by the Continental Con- 
gress to design a national 
flag for the baby United 
States, and you all know 
that in the little old 
house, 239 Arch Street, 
Philadelphia, Betsey 
Ross made the 



First American Flag. 

You have also prob- 
ably read the legend so 
frequently published, 
which tells us that the 
stars in the original de- 
sign were six-pointed, 
and were only changed 
because some one 
showed how 



ZOI 




209 



Figs. 201-210.— Two Ways to Cut a Five- 
pointed Star. 



220 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



z»?- 



To Cut a Five-pointed Star with One Clip of the Scissors, 

by folding Fig. 201 in the form of Fig. 202, and folding the 
latter in the form of Fig. 204, again folding in the shape of 
Fig. 205, and then making a cross-cut at the dotted line. 
When the paper was unfolded it appeared in the form of 
Fig. 210, a five-pointed star. 

Another Way to Cut a Five-pointed Star, 

is to fold a circular disk of paper (Fig. 206) across its diam- 
eter (Fig. 207), and fold this in the form of a fan (Fig. 209), 

which when pressed down 

fiat will be Fig. 208. One 

* cut, where the dotted line is 

, .^1^ shown on Fig. 208, will pro- 

/ \ duce the five-pointed star 

(Fig. 210). If, as according 

to the legend, it was because 

of the simplicity of this 

one clip of the scissors that 

the five -pointed star was 

adopted, the old legend 

needs revision, for 

A Six-pointed Star can be 
made with One Cut, 

with no more trouble than it 
takes to make the five-point. 
Fold the paper as in Figs. 195, 196, and 197 (see Reticule). 
Fold the form (Fig. 197) fan-wise, at the dotted lines on Fig. 
211, making the divisions equal (Fig. 212). Press the folds 
down until they are flat (Fig. 213), and make the cut at the 
place indicated by the dotted line. When the paper is un- 
folded you will have the six-pointed star, Fig. 214. 




Figs. 211-214. — A Six-pointed Star, with 
One Cut. 



Scissors and Pasteboard. 



2.2.1 



This is the star of the East, which guided the wise men 
to the lowly manger — the Star of Bethlehem, a grander and 
better symbol than the irregu- 
lar five-pointed star. The six- 
pointed star stands for Peace on 
Earth, Good Will to Men. The 
magicians of old called the six- 
pointed star the ** pentacle " of 
Solomon. 

One of the oldest and most 
venerated symbols is 



i 


\ 

\ 

c \ 


f 


y" 

D 


\ B 

\ 

\ 

\ 


K 




Gr 



Fig. 215. 



The Cross, 

and if you make one of the pro- 
portions of live squares, each of 
the three arms of equal size, 
and equal to the square space in 
the middle, you may, by 



Two Cuts, make the Cross 
into a Square. 

This Avill, at first glance, 
look like an impossibility, but if 
you find the middle of the top end of the cross (Fig. 215), 
and lay a straight-edge from the middle point E, touching 
the corner F, and rule the line E F G, then rule a line from 
H to F, and cut where the lines are ruled, you will have 
four irregular pieces, A, B, C, and D, which you may fit 
together in the form of a square (Fig. 216). 

This is amusement enough for one rainy day, and for 
the next one you may try something more artistic, and con- 
sequently more difficult and interesting. 



^\^ 


A 


/ B 


/ 
/ 




1 


^ 


/ 








/ 




y 




/ 




/ 


"^-^ 






/ 








'-.^ 


D 




c 




/ 

/ 





Fig. 216. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

HOW TO PREPARE AND GIVE A BOYS* 
CHALK-TALK. 

A NATURAL taste or talent for art is almost universal. 
If any of my readers doubt this statement let them supply 
all the youngsters in their neighborhood with colored chalks 
and note the result. 

My word for it, there will not be a paving-flag, wall 
or fence in the ward, which offers an opportunity for a pict- 
ure, which will not be profusely decorated with brilliantly 
colored, grotesque figures. 

We are all Born Artists. 
The truth is that the ability and desire to draw, come 
just as natural to a child as its abiUty and desire to talk. 

That almost all children 
learn to talk with more or 
less fluency, while few learn 
to draw with any approach 
to skill, is because talking 
is encouraged and system- 
atically taught from earliest 
infancy, while drawing is 
discouraged, and has been 

Figs. 217 and 218.— The Drawing-board. • .1 j „ ^x ^i J 

^ ever smce the days 01 old 

Sakya-Muni, 400 years before the Christian era. Sakya, the 
narrow-minded old heathen, thought it detrimental to prog- 
ress in virtue to waste one's time with pencil or brush. 

222 




A Boys Chalk- Talk. 



223 



And to-day, in the gray light of the dawn of the twentieth 
century, boys are often forbidden to draw and few are en- 
couraged in the practice, so that, in fear of punishment, the 
youngsters give vent to their artistic feelings by slyly deco- 
rating the f^ags, walls, and fences. 




Fig. 219.— a Chalk-Talker. 



Art will never reach the proper standard until these little 
** chalk-talkers " are encouraged, and taught to handle their 
chalk with the same skill with which they are taught to 
use their tongues. 



224 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



The Name Chalk-Talk 
was invented by Frank Beard, D.D., the veteran cartoonist, 
lecturer, and college professor, and it is the title of his first 
public lecture, but since then it has grown to be a popular 





Fj^i^23i 





n 




c 


pi jP jiTl 

r rr 


F'V"^ 




Figs. 220-226. — The Character of Lines. 

name, so that whenever a speaker illustrates what he has to 
say by pictures, drawn before the audience, the entertain- 
ment is called a chalk-talk. 

Besides the ability to stand before an audience and talk, 
it is absolutely necessary to have some little knowledge of 



A Boys' Chalk-Talk. 



225 



drawing, before one can hope to make a success in this 
field. 

However, any lad, with ordinary ability, can 

Learn by Practise 
to draw well enough to give an interesting show, suitable 
for the school-room, Sunday-school, or for a drawing-room 
entertainment. 

For this a good blackboard and a few colored chalks are 
all the material necessary. The blackboard is a most ex- 




FiGS. 227-234. — Motion. 

cellent thing upon which to practise, but it is much better 
to use large sheets of yellowish-brown paper. This paper 
is known as chalk-talk paper, and has *' tooth '* enough to 
retain the chalk, and make every stroke tell. 
Figs. 217 and 218 show how to make a 

Drawing-Board, 

upon which to fasten the paper. Fig. 217 shows the front 
view. Fig. 218 the rear view. The drawing-board can be 
made of any size to suit the artist, but should always be 
large enough to give full sweep to the arm. 
IS 



226 Rainy Day Ideas. 

Size of Board. 

To get these proportions take a piece of charcoal in 
your hand and stand at arm's length from the wall, with 
your right side toward it, and without changing your 
position, or leaning forward, make a mark as high upon the 
wall as you can reach. In the same manner make a mark as 
low as you can reach, without stooping. Swing your arm 
from left to right, make two marks midway between and 
upon each side of the first marks. This will give you the 
full extent of your reach. It is well to allow a foot more, 
each way, for a margin. This will give the proper propor- 
tion for the drawing-board. 

The board must be made of soft, smooth pine boards, so 
matched that there will be no cracks to annoy you while 
drawing. 

The Height of the Easel 
can be obtained by measuring from the floor to the top 
mark on the wall, and allowing a foot more for the margin. 

The easel is made by screwing two leg-boards on the 
back of the drawing-board (Fig. 217), and then, with a hinge 
in the middle of the top edge of the drawing-board, attach- 
ing the third or hind leg (Fig. 218). 

Tack the Paper 

securely, at the top and bottom, to the drawing-board, 
spread your colored chalks out on the table, and group the 
colors so that they will be handy, and when you want any 
color you will waste no time seeking that particular lump 
of chalk (Fig. 219). 

Keep a Sharp Knife 

handy, on the table, so that as soon as the audience has 
seen one picture you can run the point of the kaife along 



A Boys Chalk-Talk. 



2.2ri 



the bottom of the 
paper, just above the 
tacks, free the lower 
edge of the draw- 
ing, throw it up and 
over the top of the 
easel, without tak- 
ing time to detach 
it at the top. You 
are then ready to 
begin upon a new 
drawing. 

The Drawings 
Themselves 

must be simple, but 
with practice some 
very effective de- 
signs can be made 
with a few rapid 
strokes, which at a 
distance will look 
like finished paint- 
ings. You may 

Begin Your Talk 

by drawing a ver- 
tical line AB (Fig. 
220). As soon as this 
is done you must 
step aside, so that all 
the audience may see 



i 



235 



236 





Z39 



228 



Rainy Day Ideas. 




Fig. 241 




what you have drawn, and while they are looking at the 
line tell them that you are going to give them a talk upon 
the character of lines, and what the lines represent. 



A Boys Chalk -Talk. 229 

AB conveys the idea of 

A Stationary Object 

— a telegraph pole, a tree, a church steeple, etc. If there is 
one idea which it does not suggest, that idea is motion. 

Draw two lines diagonally down from A to the base line 
(Fig. 221), and point out that this represents a pyramid, 
which when resting upon its base is the 

Emblem of Stability. 
Upon another sheet of paper draw two AB lines, and 




Fig. 243. 

joining them at the top (Fig. 222), show that these lines still 
represent a stationary object — a house. 

At this point you may work in any comic story of houses 
in a Western tornado, which, under a stress of weather are 
not stationary, but seem inclined to change their base and 
even to fly, etc. Fig. 243 shows how a man becomes a sta- 
tionary object when the line AB divides him in the centre. 



230 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



Motion. 
But when you slant the AB lines they suggest motion 
(Figs. 224, 225, and 226). 




Although the pyramid is the emblem of stability, when 
resting upon its base — with the AB line dividing it in the 
centre — if you take the same form and point the apex in any 



A Boys Chalk -Talk. 231 

other direction it immediately suggests motion, as in Figs. 
227, 228, and 229. 




Not only does it suggest motion, but it tells the direc- 
tion of the movement suggested. Any child can tell in 
which direction the arrow and the ducks are flying. 



232 Rainy Day Ideas. 

There is 

Another Meaning 

to this figure. It is a wedge, and means cleaving — entering 
into — (Figs. 230, 231, 232, and 233). But when one views it 
from the opposite direction the meaning is just the oppo- 
site to a wedge. It now means reception (Fig. 234), The 
mouse is entering and the alligator is receiving. 

Draw All Your Figures as Large as the Paper Will 

Permit 

you to make them ; otherwise the audience, or some persons 
in the back part of the audience, will miss part of your talk, 
and that will spoil their enjoyment and diminish your ap- 
plause. 

Upon a new sheet of paper draw a horizontal line (Fig, 
235), and explain that 

This Line Means Repose. 

It is the position a person assumes in sleep • it is the sur- 
face of the ocean during a calm (Fig. 236). 

Here we again have the upright line AB (of Fig. 220), in 
the mast of the becalmed and immovable ship of Fig. 236. 
When a squall comes up not only does AB change to a di- 
agonal line (Fig. 237), but the horizontal line, indicating re- 
pose, is broken into a series of irregular points, showing 
noise, movement, and commotion. Figs. 238 and 239 show 
the same effect of lines. 

Something Which Needs Practice, 

is the ape ; but when you draw it carefully a few times and 
then practise on it, as you would upon a difficult feat in 



A Boys' Chalk-Talk. 



233 



Fig. 246. 



Fig. 247. 



Fig. 248. 




Fig. 



249. 



Fig. 250. 



Fig. 251. 



Figs. 246-251.— Evolution of the Face. 



234 Rainy Day Ideas. 

skating, or any other sport, you can learn to draw the thing 
in less than a minute. The 

Evolution of the Ape 
is its growth from a few simple lines. First draw Fig. 240, 
then add a curved line to the top of the first figure and 
some wiggles to the bottom (Fig. 241). 

A few more strokes of the chalk and we have the com- 
ical short legs, long toes, and big thumbs (Fig. 242). Pro- 
long the curve which you drew upon top of the legs until 
you have an irregular circle (Fig. 243), and on top of the 
circle fit Fig. 2z^., the arms of the ape. Make the knuckles 
rest upon the ground, each side of the feet. From Fig. 246 
to Fig. 251, inclusive, is the evolution of the face; but 

For Quick Work 

most all of the wrinkles shown in Figs. 248 and 251 may be 
left out. Simply draw the nose and eyes upon Fig. 247 and 
add the ears, hair, and whiskers (Fig. 250), and it will look 
ape-like enough to bring applause. When this is finished 
you have the late lamented Mr. Crowley, of Central Park 
Zoo (Fig. 252), which will gain sufficient applause to fully 
repay you for all the time spent in practising on the evolution 
of the ape. 

This will be enough for one talk, and if interlarded with 
amusing stories and narrations, will not only hold and 
amuse your audience, but will teach them some real truths 
in the sign language of drawing, and give them the begin- 
ner's lesson in the meaning of lines. 



A Boys Chalk -Talk. 235 




Fig. 252. — Mr. Crowley, 



CHAPTER XX. 
A CHRISTMAS NOVELTY FOR BOYS. 

How to Build and Decorate a Fireplace for Santa Claus. 

To Mr. Clement C. Moore we are indebted for the crea- 
tion of that jolly little gnome, the Americanized Santa 
Claus, Kris Kringle, or Saint Nicholas. When " The Night 
Before Christmas " was written our homes all possessed 
ample chimneys and spacious fireplaces, affording a most 
convenient entrance for the merry little saint ; but now he 
is without doubt sorely puzzled by our modern houses, and 
experiences great discomfort and difficulty in entering the 
hot-air chamber of the furnaces, and squeezing his corpulent 
little body and his pack of gifts through the registers. 

A deep sense of gratitude for many favors received, in- 
duces me to offer a few suggestions which will help the 
friend of my boyhood to come, as of old, through the 
chimney. 

Fig. 253 shows 

The First Start 

for the framework, which is made of smooth or rough pine 
strips, y^ inch thick by 2 inches in width. Make the frame 
about 5 feet 4 inches high by 4 feet 6 inches wide ; the top and 
lower pieces 4 feet 5 inches (A, B, and C, D, Fig. 253) long, 
thus allowing ^ inch at each end, to fit the ends of the side- 
pieces (R and S, Fig. 256). The diagonals, X and Y (Fig. 
253), are temporary braces, to keep the frame in shape, and 

237 



238 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



are nailed at each end in such a manner that the nails may 
be easily withdrawn when it is necessary. The illustration 
is so clear that there should be no difficulty in following its 
lines. 




Fig. 253. — Beginning the Framework. 

The frame, A, E, F, B (Fig. 254), is the 

Back of the Chimney, 

and should reach to the ceiling of the room in which the 
fireplace is to be built. Set the frame, A, B, C, D (Fig. 253), 
against the wall; then take Z (Fig. 254) and raise it up until 
it touches the ceiling, and drive a nail at the intersection 
of X and Y into Z, and another exactly in the centre of A, 
B ; drive them far enough to hold Z in an upright position, 



A Christinas Novelty for Boys. 239 



but leave enough of the nail-heads protruding to make it 
easy to redraw them and remove the temporary braces, X, 
Y, and Z (Fig. 254), when the whole frame will be finished 
and ready to use. 



-^o^r>f\ci^si:^.^ 




Fig. 254.— The Back of the Chimney. 



Take a stick half the length of A, B (E, F, Fig. 254), and 
I the end of Z exactly to the centre of E, F. By pushing 
up one end or the other you may put E, F exactly at right 



nai 



240 Rainy Day Ideas. 

angles, or *' square " with Z. When the stick, E, F, is found 
to be square, cut two more sticks, A, E and F, B, each a 
trifle longer than the distance from A to E ; cut the ends of 
these sticks to fit on the top of A, B, and "toe-nail" them 
in place, as is shown in the small diagram in the upper right- 
hand corner of Fig. 254. Allow the upper ends of A, E, and 
F, B to slip under the ends of the stick, E, F, as in the illus- 
tration, and nail them securely in place ; then saw off the 
protruding ends even with E, F, and the back of your frame 
is finished. 

The Front Frame 

(Fig. 255) is of the same width as A, B, Fig. 253, but it is 
the width of the strips R and S, Fig. 256 (two inches), 
shorter than the back. The side-pieces, G, N, and H, Q 
(Fig. 255), are set with their edges facing the front, and the 
top-piece, G, H (Fig. 255), is fitted in with its broad surface 
facing the front and flush with the tops and front edges of 
the side-pieces, G, N, and H, Q ; it is held in place by nails 
driven through the side-pieces in the ends of G, H. 

The piece J, K, is exactly the same length as G, H, and 
forms the top of the fireplace, but unlike G, H, the piece 
J, K, has its thin edge flush with the front. It is held in 
place by nails which are driven through from the outside 
of the two uprights, G, N,and H, Q. All these pieces must 
be cut and fitted with exactness, or the framework will be 
of no use. 

Fig. 256 shows how 

The Remaining Pieces, 

LO, MP, NO, and PQ, are placed, and the figure of the 
young workman gives an idea of their proportions which 
cannot be given in figures, for the reason that the opening 



A Christmas Novelty for Boys. 241 

for the fireplace must be made to suit the size of the boy 
who is to be Santa Claus. 

To finish the framework is now 




Fig. 255.— The Front Frame. 



A Simple Task. 

Make two bottom side-bars (C, N, and D, Q, Fig. 256), each 

about two and one-half feet long, and nail them in place, 

" toe-nailing " at the front. The two top-bars (R and S, 

Fig. 256) must extend out a foot in front, as a support for 

16 



242 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



the mantel-piece. After these are securely nailed in place 
the roof-sticks, a and d, may be fitted in place, and notched 
to fit over the mantel supports, as shown in Fig. 256. You 
now have a strong but light frame, which must be neatly 




Fig. 256.— The Finished Frame. 



A Christmas Novelty for Boys. 243 

covered with gray-colored paper muslin, Manila paper, or 
building- paper. 

The Covering 

must be stretched, and securely tacked to the framework, 
so that no wrinkles shall betray its frail nature. 
Some black paper muslin is now needed 

To Line the Inside of the Fireplace. 

Tack the ends of two pieces of the black stufE on the 
uprights, LO, and MP, and extend one piece back to B, D, 
and the other to A, C, and tack them to the back frame ; 
also stretch a piece of black muslin from A, C, to B, D. 
This will make the interior of the fireplace dark and mys- 
terious. 

Next take a pot of white paint and a small brush, and 
rule white horizontal lines all around the fireplace and 
chimney; then paint upright lines, as shown in the illustra- 
tion (Fig. 257). This will give the effect of stonework with 
white plaster between. 

Place a smooth board upon the projecting supports, R 
and S, for the mantel, and the work will be done. If you 
can secure some old-fashioned brass candlesticks and an 
antique clock, for your mantel, they will add greatly to the 
effect. A pair of andirons, with some charred sticks of wood, 
will give a realistic touch which will win applause (Fig. 257). 

Our American St. Nicholas 

iS a jovial little fellow, with a very red nose, white hair, 
white beard, short pipe, fur-trimmed clothes, and a little 
round belly — which shakes when he laughs, like a bowl full 
of jelly. Every youngster also knows that he comes in a 



244 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



little sleigh, drawn by eight tiny reindeer; but in spite of 
this universal knowledge among the children of America 
of Santa Claus' personal characteristics, the long-legged 
saint of Europe still fills our illustrated papers, each year 
as heretofore, and badly upholstered giants are made to 




Fig 257.— Ready for Christmas. 



Stand for the saint in all the shop-windows, and frighten 
the children out of their seven senses. It is a fact that 
many of the little ones take these big ungainly giants for 
the ones which Jack the Giant-killer is supposed to have 
slain. 



A Christmas Novelty for Boys. 245 

All American children love their little American Christ- 
mas saint, whose individuality was born with the verses 
beginning 

" It was the night before Christmas, and all through the house 
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse," etc. 

Any boy who has a box of tools, and is at all clever 
at carpentry, may make a framework similar to the one 
shown in the preceding illustrations, but when it comes to 
preparing the 

Costume for Jolly Old Santa Claus 

he will more than likely find it convenient to call 'or 
some assistance from his sisters, though, of course, he 
will enjoy the whole thing better if he can make it a real 
surprise. 

But it is not very difficult for the boys to make a good 
representation of St. Nick themselves. 

The Coat. 

When making his costume secure a dark-colored sack 
coat which is much too large for the proposed Santa Claus, 
and turn back the sleeves at the cuffs until they are the 
proper length for Santa Claus's arms. Stitch the cuffs 
lightly to the sleeves, to keep them in place. Turn up the 
bottom of the coat all around, making it the proper length 
for the little man, and stitch the skirt in place ; then, to rep- 
resent fur, use white cotton-batting and cover the turned- 
back cuffs and skirt with this material, so as to conceal the 
alterations. Upon the white trimmings sew little tags of 
black cotton. 



246 Rainy Day Ideas. 



Use a Fur Cap, 

if you have one; if not, tals:e any sort of a dark cloth one, 
and sew a piece of white cotton around the edge. Cover 
the legs, below the knees, with heavy woollen stockings and 
use big overshoes for the feet. 

How to Put on the Clothes. 

When the boy who is to represent the jolly old saint is 
ready to dress, let him put on the knickerbockers first and 
stuff the bottom end of a pillow in the front of the breeches; 
then put on the coat, and button and belt the pillow inside. 
This will give him a jolly big paunch ; next put on the stock- 
ings and the overshoes. Then let some one gum a pair of 
big white cotton eyebrows to his forehead, using common 
mucilage for the purpose ; also a long white cotton mustache 
and beard. Press these appendages to the face until the 
mucilage is dry. The finishing touch is made by painting 
the nose a bright red, and then the brave old saint will be 
ready to hide in the spacious chimney, to descend and 
greet the company when he receives the signal that the 
proper time has come for his appearance. 

If the false chimney and fireplace are set up against an 
open door, Santa Claus may enter from the other room, and 
when he lets himself down over the black cloth back of the 
fireplace it will appear to the audience — at least, to all the 
little folks — as if he came down the chimney. 

In case no doorway is handy a strong board shelf, built 
in the false chimney, will serve as a seat and a place of con- 
cealment for the saint until the clock on the mantel strikes 
the hour of twelve, which should be the signal for the im- 
mediate appearance of the little man. 



A Christmas Novelty for Boys. 247 

The Clock, 

of course, should be set ahead of time, so that it will strike 
at the proper moment, when everything is in readiness, and 
the little folks are trembling with impatience. 



i 



CHAPTER XXI. 



HOW TO MAKE 



TWO BOYS 
CLAUS. 



INTO ONE SANTA 



If your time for preparation is limited, and you still wish 
to have a live Santa Claus, you may do so by dispensing 
with the artificial fire- 
place altogether, and 
allowing the old saint 
to hold a reception in 
the doorway between 
two rooms. 

The accompanying 
illustrations show you 
how you can make 
another real live Santa 
Claus, in your own 
home. Many of you 
are familiar with the 
trick of the so-called 
German dwarf, and 
this Santa Claus is an 
adaptation of that trick 
for a Christmas enter- 
tainment. 

The first picture 
(Fig. 258) shows 
248 





Fig. 258.— Legs. 



Fig. 



259. — Legs with 
Coat. 



How to Make a Santa Claus, 



249 



How the Old Saint's Legs are Made 

by pulling a pair of golf stockings over the hands and arms, 
and then slipping the hands into the slippers. 

It is necessary to choose a short coat, for otherwise the 
tails would hide the feet. With any old fur, or substitute 
which will look like fur, trim the 
coat, making it appear as if it but- 
toned up in the middle of the 
back. 

Some one then puts the coat, 
** wrong-side fore," on to the boy 
who acts as legs (Fig. 259). 



The Wig and Beard 

are now put on Mr. Legs, and his 
nose is then painted a bright red, 
after which a peaked cap, made of 
some bright material and trimmed 
with something to represent fur, 
is placed upon his head. 

'' Mr. Legs" is now ready for 
** Mr. Arms," and the illustration 
(Fig. 260) shows Mr. Arms after 
he has thrust his hands and arms 
through the sleeves of the fur- 
trimmed coat. 




Fig. 260.— The Little Saint. 
Side- View. 



The Curtains 

are securely pinned behind Legs' head in front of Arms' 
face, and brought down around the fur-trimmed coat, out- 
side of Legs' real legs, and pinned under his arms, which 
are doing the part of the saint's legs, thus concealing all 



250 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



but the little saint. The last illustration (Fig. 261) displays 
the jolly little saint distributing candy and small presents 
to the young people. 

The more care you take in arranging your show, the 
greater will be the success of the entertainment. The eight 
little reindeer are not necessary, even if they were obtain- 
able, for the old saint may 
be supposed to have un- 
hitched his steeds for the 
time and stabled them on 
the roof ; but 

The Sleigh 

can be improvised from 
any ordinary coasting- 
sled. Select one which 
looks something like a 
sleigh. 

When fat little Santa 
Claus comes down the 
chimney, we all know 
that he carries his 

Good Things in a Bag, 

so if you secure a bag, 
and stuff it full of any 
sort of material, it will 

make a most appropriate load for the sleigh. A fur rug 

will add to the effect, but is not necessary. 

If the sleigh and bag do not reach high enough for the 

saint to stand on, a stage must be made of some old box, 

covered by a white sheet or white canton-fiannel cloth, to 




^M/^^ 




Fig. 261.— The Little Saint. Front View. 



How to Make a Santa Clans. 251 

represent snow, and on this stage set the sleigh and bag, as 
shown in the illustration on page 250. 

A second bag should be procured, in which all the pres- 
ents have been placed ; each present should be carefully 
covered with enough paper to protect it from injury, as 
well as to conceal and make a mystery of the contents of 
the package. 

When All is Ready 

have a curtain or screen set up before Santa Claus, turn 
down the lights and invite the company into the room, then 
make them keep very quiet and listen for Santa Claus. 

In an adjoining room some one in the secret has a set of 
sleigh-bells, which are jingled very softly at first, gradually 
growing louder and louder, as if the sleigh was approaching 
nearer ; when they stop a stamping of feet is heard. 

This last is 

The Signal for Legs, 

who cries out, in his deepest bass, '' A pretty Christmas 
this ! Company here, and all hiding behind a screen. What, 
ho! are ye afraid of Santa Claus?" At that the master of 
ceremonies removes the screen, and there before the eyes 
of the delighted company is a real live Santa Claus, who 
can move his legs and arms, and talk ! 
The entertainment is 

Concluded 

by the old saint fishing the presents out of the bag and 
handing them to the master of ceremonies, who calls out 
the name found on each bundle and presents it to the 
claimant. 

During the time devoted to the distribution of presents 



252 Rainy Day Ideas. 

Santa Claus can make plenty of fun, for as the arms belong 
to one boy and the legs and head to another, the legs and j 
head never know exactly what the arms are about to do il 
next, and if the arms take a handkerchief out of a pocket to 
wipe the face, there is always a mirth-provoking incident, 
and the face does not look happy until the handkerchief is 
put away. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
A CIRCUS IN THE ATTIC. 

How to Make the Horses and Other Animals, and How 
to Make the Costumes. 

In all mimic circus performances the boys of a genera- 
tion ago were sadly handicapped by the want of horses ; 
sometimes goats and dogs were pressed into service, but 
these animals flatly refused to allow the youthful circus 
riders to mount their backs, and as substitutes for liorses 
proved good for nothing but the creation of contusion. 

When 

The Goat 

was supposed to canter around the ring, he had a way of 
standing on his hind legs and coming down head-first, 
which utterly demoralized our ring-master, and even caused 
the clown to do many *' stunts " not down on the programme. 
The dog would wag his tail and bark in a manner very un- 
like a true circus horse. 

It sometimes happened that one of the performers was 
the proud owner of a real live pony. Alas ! even a pony 
had its objectionable features, for however willing the ani- 
mal might be to climb the stairs, for reasons unaccountable 
to us, our parents put forth such strong objections that the 
pony had to be left out of the show. 

Since the Writer's Circus Days 

the safety bic3^cle has made its appearance, and as a conse- 
quence every boys' show may now be supplied with circus 

253 



254 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



horses which the boys can ride, and which will neither butt 
nor bark ; furthermore, parents will not object to the pres- 
ence in the attic of rubber-shod hoofs, which make no noise. 

The "Arab Steed" 

IS made by fastening a simple framework of sticks and 
hoops to an ordinary wheel. The head may be made of the 




Figs. 262 and 263. — Showing Skeleton of Horse. 

canvas cover of a ham, stuffed with excelsior, or a piece of 
cloth sewed into the form of a ham-cover, and stuffed lightly 
with excelsior. 



A Feather-Duster May Do Service as a Tail. 

Fig. 262 shows the wheel, with the backbone rod, A B, 
lashed to the top tube of the frame and the feather-duster 
made fast to the tail-end of the rod, A B. 



A Circus in the Attic, 



255 



The Neck-Bones 

are the two rods, C D and E D. The rod C D is bound to 
the saddle-post, below the point where the head and top 
tubes join under the handle-bar. The lower neck-bone, E 




Fig. 264.— Ready for the Cover. 

D, is lashed to the top of the bracket-tube at E, just out of 
reach of the pedals, and to the upper neck-bone, at D. 

The Ribs 

are made from ordinary wooden barrel-hoops. Fig. 263 
shows front-view of wheel, with one hoop in place. The first 
hoop is tied on the neck-bone, in front of the handle-bars, 
and the next two hoops are lashed to the backbone, behind 



256 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



the saddle-bar, as shown in Fig. 264. The head is tied to 
the end of the neck-bones, at D, and eyes, mouth, and nostrils, 
painted on the ham-cover head. 

The Frame 

now only needs to be covered with a cloth of some kind, to 
make a most speedy ** Arab steed." The covering for the 

horse may be gaudily colored 
paper muslin, with the addi- 
tion, perhaps, of some quaint 
figures cut out of gold, red, 
or black paper, and pasted in 
place, as shown by the illus- 
tration. Two sheets may be 
made to do duty as a horse- 
cover ; or two old shawls, 
properly draped and fastened 
to the skeleton or frame- 
work, will answer the pur- 
pose ; but it is, on the whole, 
best to buy the paper muslin, 
as this may be cut and sewed 
at pleasure. Cut it so as to 
cover both head and neck, 
leaving eye-holes and holes 
for mouth and nose, also a 
large opening where the fear- 
less circus rider is to sit and work the pedals. 

The Reins 

may be made of ribbons and run from the mouth to the 
handle-bars. The horsr's blanket should be stitched to the 
first hoop on the neck, and not allowed to hang loose, as it 




Figs. 265-267.— The Inside of the Bird. 



A Circus in the Attic. 257 

would be certain to interfere with the free movement of the 
front wheel and bring the Arab steed into trouble not down 
on the programme, causing him to act more like a bucking 
Western bronco than a gentle, well-trained circus horse. 

The Moa is the Giant Bird from New Zealand, 

and is simply made, as a glance at Figs. 265, 266, and 267 
will prove. Fig. 265 shows a cone made of card-board, the 
edges of which are stitched or glued together, and the whole 
covered with white or yellow paper. Fig. 266 is the neck- 
bone, a stick with a pad of rags or paper tied over the upper 
end. A sheet, or other plain-colored cloth, is stitched to the 
cone in such a manner that the drapery will fall down and 
hide all but the feet and legs of the boy holding the neck- 
bone (Fig. 267). Some black paint or ink can be used to 
mark the eyes and mouth on the paper cone, and the only 
living example of the moa, the giant bird of New Zealand, is 
ready to be led around the ring before the eyes of the awe- 
struck spectators. For an extra charge the strange bird 
will even allow one of the smaller spectators to ride its back 
(the boy's shoulders) around the ring. 

The Manicora 

is an imaginary beast, once thought to inhabit America. 
From all I can learn from old prints it was supposed 
to be a sort of lion, with a human face. If any of your 
circus company own a French poodle, or any sort of long- 
haired dog which can be shaved like a lion, he can make a 
beautiful manicora by sewing a skirt, long enough to reach 
below the dog's collar, on to a cheap false-face. With a lit- 
tle patient work the dog may be taught to walk around the 
ring with a false-face on. The mask is held in place by 
tucking the cloth under the dog's collar. 
17 



258 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



By using 

A Little Ingenuity, 

any number of fierce and strange animals can be made, to 




Fig. 274, 
Figs. 268-274. — Ring-master and His Costume. 

astonish and please the audience; every boy knows how to 
make an elephant of two boys covered with a gray shawl, 



A Circus in the Attic. 259 

and a giraffe can be made by adding another boy to the moa, 
so as to give it four legs ; but the limited space at my dis- 
posal forbids my introducing more diagrams. 

The Dignified and Self-sufficient Ring-master 

must dress in black, and have high boots, or at least what 
appear to be high boots. This appearance can be made 
with a few cents' worth of black paper muslin, sewed over 
two cylinders (Fig. 272) of pasteboard. These, when fin- 
ished, will look like top-boots (Figs. 273 and 274.) 

Tight-fitting Knee-breeches, 

black or some dark color, and a dark coat, will be all that is 
required for lower parts ; but the head must be adorned 
with a high hat, and if an old silk hat of the proper size can- 
not be procured, you can make one by fitting a muslin-cov- 
ered pasteboard top on to an ordinary black derby hat (see 
Figs. 268, 269, 270, 271, and 274.) A standing collar and a 
flashy or plain white necktie will finish the costume. Of 
course the ring-master must have a long whip, with which 
he makes believe to whip the clown when the latter tries 
one of his jokes at the ring-master's expense. 

A Jersey or a Tight-fitting Undershirt 

will do duty for the circus rider's upper garment, and if he 
can induce some one to make him a pair of light-colored 
trunks he can appear in his underclothes, and no one will 
know but that he has on the regular showman's tights. 

A Girl's Old Turban Hat, 

set jauntily on his head, will add to the effect, especially if 
this head-gear be decorated with a long-, curling feather. 



26o 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



Fig. 275. 



Fig. 276. 




Fig. 277/^ 



Fig. 278. 
Figs. 275-278.— The Clown. 

If the reader is not fortunate in the possession of some 
accommodating female relative who will help him out by 
kindly making the trunks, he may take an old pair of loose- 
fitting 



A Circus in the AtH^ 261 

Knickerbockers,* 

and cut the legs off, just below the thigh ; then cut slits near 
the bottom, through which he may run a piece of tape, as 
the pucker-string is run in the top of a marble-bag. 
To put on these trunks he must turn them 

Wrong Side Out 

and put them on upside down, then fasten the string as high 
up on his leg as it will go, after which he can reach down 
and turn the breeches up until they come to the proper 
place around his waist. It will then be seen that they are 
not only right side out, but that the cloth folds over and 
conceals the pucker-strings as neatly as if the trunks were 
made by a tailor. 

Take an Old Soft Felt Hat 

(Fig. 275) and soak it well in warm or hot water, then put it 
over the blunt end of a bedpost, or any similar object, and 
firmly but steadily pull down the rim (Fig. 276), until the 
crown is given a conical form (Fig. 277). If you pull too 
hard you will run the post through the hat ; but with a little 
care you may shape any old soft felt hat into the typical 
head-gear of the clown (Figs. 277, 278). 
Your father's, big brother's, or uncle's 

Pajamas, 

will make an excellent suit of clothes for the clown. Hoist 
the pantaloons up under your arms and fasten them there ; 
then put garters around the ankles. Belt in the upper gar- 
ments at the waist, and put elastic garters on your wrists. 
Persuade your sister, mother, or aunt, to make a ruff for your 



262 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



neck, from apiece of stiff white muslin, and you will have as 
good a clown's suit as appears in the real circus, (Fig. 278). 
When 

Making- Up 

for the ring, take some common flour and put it in a piece 
of mosquito-netting ; with this, powder your hair, face, and 
neck, until all is as white as the driven snow, then wet a 
towel and mark out a big, laughing mouth. 

You are now ready to caper into the ring and throw your 
peaked hat at the ring-master. 




Fig. 279. — The Circus. 



A^ B OYS' 




CHAPTER XXIII. 

The only difference between the bald-headed, bearded 
boy and his younger brother in knickerbockers is that the 
latter is fond of fun and owns up to it, while the former is 
fond of fun and conceals the fact behind a solemn counte- 
nance and a severe and dignified frown. 

But when the 

Old Boys 

attend a stag-party the solemn faces and frowns are not 
there ; they leave them with their overcoats in the hall. 
When sending 

Invitations to a Boys' Stag-Party, 

it should be suggested that the guests come in their old 
clothes, and not be late for the target-shooting. You must 
have some blow-guns and a target ready for them to use 
when they arrive. 

Make the Target 

of a large sheet of Manila paper. Outline the rings by plac- 
ing the paper on the floor, driving a tack in the centre of 
the paper, and then using a piece of string with a loop at 
one end and a very short pencil at the other end, place 
the loop over the tack and fasten the pencil to the string. 
In this way make a number of circles, and number them 

263 



264 



Ramy Day Ideas. 



from one to ten or fifteen, according to the number of 
guests you have invited to your stag-party. 

When the target is finished lay it aside, and busy your- 
selves making darts for the blow-guns. Take a number of 



Carpet Tacks 

and some bright-colored worsted ; tie the worsted string to 
the tack until the latter is covered, all but its point, then 
push all the ends of the strings back to the head of the tack 
and cut them off evenly, leaving them about a quarter of an 
inch long. 

When one of these darts is shot through the b^ow-gun it 
will stick into anything it hits, unless the target be of stone 
or metal. 

When the darts are all made lay them aside, with the 
blow-guns and the target, and go to the market and secure a 

basketful of an assortment of 

All the Large Vegetables 

you can find — big turnips, the 
largest sweet potatoes, small 
squashes, field-beets, and com- 
pact cabbages. Some of the 
vegetables in this list may be 
out of season, but there will 
always be some that are in 
season. 

Cut the top of each turnip, 
beet, potato, and squash, leav- 
ing a slanting or beveled edge 
then hollow out the vegetable until 
you have space enough to hold a fair-sized paper of candy. 




Figs. 280 and 281 

to the lid (Fig. 280) : 



^%> 



A Boys' Stag-party. 



265 



Put the candy in oiled paper, place it in the hollow veg-- 
etable and fit the lid on the the top, where it can be secured 
by using wooden toothpicks as tacks (Fig. 281). If this 
work has been done with any sort of care, no one, not in 
the secret, will suspect that it is not a common vegetable. 

The Cabbage Bonbon Box 

is made in the same manner, only in this case you must 
carefully peel off the first covering of leaves from the head 
of cabbage and then cut a hole for the bonbons, as in Fig. 
282. After the candy is in place the leaves removed 




READY FOK FILLING 



S E RVElD. 



Figs. 282 and ok 



from the cabbage must be carefully replaced, and fastened 
on with toothpicks, which are concealed by the surround- 
ing leaves (Fig. 283). 

When you have made one of these novel bonbon boxes 
for each guest, you can begin to make 

The Big Pie or Pudding 

which is to grace the centre of the table. Buy a num- 
ber of cheap toys, such as little china dolls (both black 
and white), whistles, rattles, etc., and to each one you 
attach a card with some comic verse or sentence written 



266 Rainy Day Ideas. 

on it; then you roll the toy up in a number of pieces ot 
soft paper until the bundle assumes a ball-like form. The 
outside wrapper of each bundle should be of the brightest- 




1 



Fig. 284. — Attach a Bright Piece of Ribbon. 

colored tissue-paper which can be found. After securely 
binding the bundles with twine attach a bright piece of tape 
or silk ribbon to each, as in Fig. 284. 
When all the 

Knick-knacks and Jokes 

are bundled up, and the ribbons attached, place them in a 
large earthen dish or wooden bread-bowl, and arrange them 
so that the ribbon to each parcel hangs outside. Then fill 
the bowl with bran and pat into a rounded surface, as shown 
in Fig. 285. 

The Ribbons Must be Loosely Knotted 

at the sides, to keep them from harm, after which the sur- 
face of the '' fake " cake is covered with a layer of wheat 
flour, to represent frosting, and the flour is ornamented 
with raisins, as in the illustration, while the top is deco- 
rated with a few sprigs of green or the ornaments from the 
top of a real cake, and the '* fake " cake is then ready to 
serve. 

Don't Disappoint the Boys. 

While both the boys in knickerbockers and the boys 
in long-tailed coats like fun, neither the old nor the young 



A Boys' Stag-Party. 267 

boys enjoy being disappointed. You must, therefore, have 
some real pie, cake, and good things to serve, besides the 
make-believe cake, so as to keep all the guests good- 
humored. 

The Shooting. 

When all the lads have assembled and the target is in 
place, give one prepared tack and the blow-gun to one boy, 
and let him have a shot at the target, and keep account of 
the number he comes nearest to with the dart. 

When all the boys have had their turn at firing a shot, 
and 

The Numbers are All Recorded, 

show them a list, with a penalty opposite each number ; 
for instance, number one must wear two feathers in his 
hair ; number two must have his face decorated with black 
circles ; number three, face decorated with black stripes ; 
number four, hair powdered white, with fiour; number five, 
half face black, etc. Then tell them the list was made out 
by the Mad March Hare. 

When All the Boys are Properly Decorated, 

with blackened or whitened faces, coats wrong side out, etc., 
let them march to the table in the order of their numbers, 
and take the numbered seat which corresponds with the 
number they struck on the target. When the boys are 
seated the maid should bring in 

Great Trays, Heaped with Raw Garden-Stuff. 

This will cause a shout of surprise and disappointment ; 
but after some lad has laboriously cut a great turnip in 



268 



Rainy Day Ideas. 




half, and discovered the con- 
cealed sweets, the fun will begin 
anew. 

After this first course of 
vegetables 

The Regular Spread May Be 
Served, 

and when all have finished you 
must rise and say that you hope 
that your guests have still kept 
a little of their appetites for a 
piece of March Hare pie. Then 
you don a big white apron, 
thrust a table-knife in your belt, 
so as to look like a cook, and 
bring in 

The Great "Fake" Cake 

(Fig. 285). Place the cake in 
the centre of the table, with the 
ribbons carefully undone and 
one end stretched to each plate. 

At a Given Signal 

each guest gives a sharp pull 
upon his line, and out pop 
all the brightly-col- 
ored parcels, while 
,^-^-^ the bran and flour 

^'^^^^^ fly^ as if an explo- 
sion had occurred. 



Fig. 285 —Bring in the Cake. 




^ i 



1 



A Boys' Stag-Party. 269 

The success of this last act depends entirely upon the 
host. He must caution each boy not to gather in any of 
the slack of his ribbon, but only take a firm hold of the end 
and wait until the word is given to pull. 

After the excitement and fun of demolishing the ** fake " 
cake, then comes the fun of unrolling the bundles and read- 
ing the jokes attached to each trinket. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

A WILD WEST SHOW IN THE HOUSE. 

There are many boys to-day who have never seen an 
Indian, and while it is impossible for us all to view the real 
Wild West, it is not difficult for us to get up a little Wild 
West show of our own, at home. 

Patterns Are Here Given, 

which any intelligent boy can copy. The fields of the pat- 
terns given are divided into small squares, and the dividing 
lines are numbered and lettered along two sides of the 
pattern. 

It is not hard to understand that, since every square, 
be it big or little, is exactly the same shape, by making the 
same number of larger squares you will have an enlarged 
field, similar to the one shown. 

How to Reproduce the Patterns. 

Place a clean piece of card-board on the table, and, with 
the aid of a straight-edged piece of board, rule a line close 
to the edge of the card-board and parallel to it. 

By means of a two-foot measure, or tape-line, mark off 
with your pencil a point at each half-inch, to correspond 
with the numbered lines on the field (Fig. 286). Number 
the lines from one to thirty-three, as they are numbered in 
Fig. 286. Replace the straight-edged board along the line, 
take a large flat book (your geography will do), see that the 

270 



A IVild IVesf Show in the House. 271 




Fig. 286.— The Parts of Mounted Cowboy and Indian. 

edge of the board is exactly parallel to the pencil line, and 
just far enough back of it to show the pencil dots, hold the 
board firmly in place, and slide the book along the edge of 



272 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



the board, until the edge of the book is exactly at the first 
pencil dot. 

Rule the First Line 

along the edge of the book, then move the book to the next 





























\ 


-; 


7 
















































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Fig. 287. — Mounted Indian. 

dot and rule the line No. i, then No. 2, and so on, until No. 
33 is ruled. 

Again Take Your Two-foot 

rule or tape measure, and mark off by pencil dots the points 
for the lines at A, B, C, D, etc. ; do the same on the line 



A Wild West Show in the House. 273 

No. 33, and with your board ruler connect with lines the 
two sets of dots, and you will have a field of squares exactly 
similar to the one in Fig. 286, only much larger. 



Next Trace Out the Cowboy, 

horse, and Indian, by drawing a line upon your enlarged 
field from point to point, as it is seen to cross the squares in 
the small pattern. In the pattern the Indian has but one 
leg and one arm, and the horse but one fore leg and one 
hind leg, but after these are cut out it is a simple matter to 
trace around them on card-board with a pencil, and thus 
supply all of the missing limbs. 

After the Puppets Are Cut 

out, punch holes with a darning-needle at the points marked' 
A ; these are the joints, and the spots where the parts are 
joined by a piece of string. 

Make a Round Knot 

in the end of a piece of string, so large that it will not pull 
through the needle-holes. Take the hind leg of the horse 
and thread the string through A, then through A upon the 
horse's hip, then through the hole in the other hind leg. 
Pull the string taut and, placing the puppet fiat, tie a knot 
close to the leg ( Fig. 289). 

How it is Done. 

To do this make a loose knot first, and with the forefinger 
of the left hand press the loop against the puppet while you 
slowly pull the free end taut (see Fig. 289). Tie it three or 



274 



Rainy Day Ideas, 



four times, until the knot is too large to pull through the 
needle-hole ; then cut off the end of the string. 

Join all the limbs in the same manner, and the two parts 
of the horse's body. The result will be a horse with a body 
which will bend and legs which will move in a most natural 
manner. 

As the Audience 

can see only the shadows, the joints will not be perceptible, 
and the horse and rider can be made to take the most natural 
























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Figs. 288 and 289.— The Wild Buffalo. 

poses. The silhouettes on the next page were traced from 
a puppet made from this pattern. 

For a Bridle 

fasten a loop of string in the bit and the rider's hand. To 
make the horse buck, fasten a piece of fine thread to his tail 







1 __^ 

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A Bronco Buster. 



A Wild West Show in the House. 275 

and another piece to his head ; then, by alternately pulling 
taut and allowing the thread to slacken, the horse will be 
found to jump, pitch, and buck, in a life-like and most ap- 
proved Wild West manner. Fig. 290 (the page illustration) 
shows a photograph made from the puppet here described, 
and Figs. 291, 292, 293, and 294 are positions assumed by that 
puppet, and traced directly from the paper horse and rider. 

The Indian Horseman 

(Fig. 287) shows how the body is joined ; the dotted line in- 
dicates where the portion of the fore part of the body laps 



%^ 



under the hind part. In Fig. 287 the legs are not jointed as 
in Fig. 286. In drawing your pattern for this puppet make 
two fields of squares : one for the fore part and one for the 
hind part of the Indian and horse; and in Fig. 288 make 
three fields of squares, one for the hind legs, one for the 
body and one for the head. Both of the last diagrams are 
drawn on one field to save space ; but you can easily under- 
stand how to reproduce them. For instance, in Fig. 287 
make a field of squares from o to 18 for the fore part; 
make another field of squares from 12 to 34 for the hind 
quarters. 

Make five or six duplicates of the Indian horseman; 




276 Rainy Day Ideas. 

make as many duplicates of the dancing Indians as may be 
required for your war-dance ; do the same with 

The Buffalo, 

until you have a herd of them. Paste the flat end of a stick 
to the buffalo's leg and fasten a thread to the neck and hind 



legs, as shown by Fig. 288. With the stick you move the 
bison along, and with the string you make him throw up his 
head and hind legs in a most amusing and comical manner. 

A Piece of White Muslin, 

stretched taut, with no Avrinkles, will make your stage, and 
a light behind it will throw the shadows of your puppets on 



A Wild West Show in the House. 277 

the cloth. The stage should be surrounded with heavy cur- 
tains, to prevent the operators from being seen, and the light 
behind the stage from illuminating the room in front. A 
bicycle lamp or an ordinary candle will answer for the light. 
A sheet of smooth Manila paper makes a better stage than 
the white cloth ; it may be tacked upon a frame, or the bot- 
tom edge be tacked to a kitchen table and the top to a rod, 
suspended from the ceiling. The table should be on the 
audience side of the screen, so that the showmen may have 
room to move their puppet-sticks along the inside edge of 
the table, and keep the puppets close to the screen of paper. 
By changing the cowboy's hat to a soldier's cap or helmet, 
and puttijig a sword or gun in his hand, you can make as 
many cavalrymen from this pattern as you desire to have 
in the show. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

HOW TO HAVE A PANORAMA SHOW. 

After you have had a rollicking circus in the attic, and 
a roaring Wild West show in the basement, you can explain 
to your parents that a panorama is a show of a " highly 
moral " and most genteel character, and you may persuade 
them to allow you to have a panorama party in the dining- 
room. 

A Good Panorama 

is always a thing worth looking at, yet I promise you that 
there is more real enjoyment in making a panorama and 
exhibiting it, than there is in looking at twenty professional 
exhibitions. 

The Subject 

of the pictures must be your first thought. In their selec- 
tion you have the widest possible range of choice, from the 
" Yankee in King Arthur's Court " to Roosevelt with the 
Rough Riders in Cuba, or from '' The Pilgrim's Progress" 
to "Jack the Giant-killer," or '' Mother Goose." 

To those who have acquired the happy art of expressing 
their ideas with pencil and brush, the painting of an original 
panorama need not be explained ; but the great majority of 
boys are unable to make pictures, either with pencil or with 
brush, and for them there remains still another method, 
which for beginners is equally, if not more effective. 

278 



A Panorama Show, 



279 



With Paste-pot and Shears, 

any boy, of ordinai-y ability, may make pictures galore by 
cutting the figures and even the backgrounds from illus- 
trated papers, grouping and arranging them to suit himself, 
and pasting them neatly upon a long, strong strip or ribbon 
of paper, suited to winding and unrolling by means of two 
cylinders or rollers, as shown in Fig. 296. 




Fig. 296. — The Panorama. 



Select Your Topic 

first, then write out the number of illustrations you wish to 
make to tell the story ; then hunt for a background here, a 



28o 



Rainy Day Ideas, 



foreground there, and houses and people wherever they 
may be found. Paste the background on your strip of 
paper first, then the foreground, and next add the necessary 
number of people, vehicles, animals, and other objects. 




Fig. 297. 

Colored Figures, 

upon a white background, will be found to be most effective. 
Giants may be made by taking large-sized prints of men, 
clipping off their heads and replacing the latter with heads 
of smaller men. Dwarfs may be made by using the small 



A Panorama Show. 



281 



prints of men, and substituting big heads for the ones orig- 
inally belonging to the figures. 
Fig. 296 shows 

The Works of the Panorama, 

naked and unadorned. But the machinery should be con- 
cealed, and for this purpose make a box, similar to the one 
shown in Fig. 297, which is called the stage. It is simply a 
narrow box, as shown in Fig. 298, with drapery arranged 
from the outer edges to a small 
frame at the rear. Fig. 297 is the 
front of the finished stage ; Fig. 
298 is the rear of same, denuded of 
its drapery. 

Hiding in the cellar, basement, 
attic, or woodshed, of almost every 
house, are a lot of packing-cases, 
but if from any cause these boxes 
should be absent from their accus- 
tomed places, you must go to your grocer for the material 
for your stage. 




ATTy^Bo^TcANfAAKE this; 

IT I3THE_5TA&E^I 
Fig. 298. 



Build a Narrow Box, 

of about the proportions of Fig. 298, and make a frame of 
four sticks for the back of the box ; notch the cross-sticks 
(Fig. 299) so that they will fit flush, or even, with the inside 
surface of the two long pieces (Fig. 300). 



Cut Some Dark Red Canton Flannel 

into four pieces, to fit the four sides of your stage frame ; 
plait the ends, and tack each plait as the drapery is tacked 
to the frame, as shown in Fig. 300. 



282 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



After all four pieces of drapery are plaited and tacked 
fast, nail the frame to the back of the stage, as it is shown in 

Fig. 298 ; then, one piece at a 
time, spread the edges of the 
cloth over the front edges of 
the box of the stage and tack 
them there, as in Fig. 297. 
This will give you a dark-col- 
ored stage frame with a small 
opening at the back end for 
the panorama to slide by, as 
the crank of the roller is 
turned by the showman be- 
hind the curtain. 

Curtains must be arranged 
to hang down on each side of 
the stage and be pinned to- 
gether above and below it. 



The Stage 

should rest upon a table, and 
be lighted by a row of small 
Christmas-tree candles, or common candles cut oft and made 
short. 

Whatever lights are used, care should be taken to place 
them so that there will be no danger from fire. 

Of course it is not absolutely necessary to use candles for 




Figs. 299 and 300. 



Footlights. 

Any sort of light which will illuminate the panorama 
without obstructing the view of the audience, will answer the 
purpose; but it is absolutely necessary to have no other 



A Panorama Show. 



283 



lights burning- in the room while the panorama is being ex- 
hibited. All the light must be centred upon the pictures. 
Fig. 301 shows 

How the Panorama Box 

is built. There are two holes bored through the top board 
and through the upper bottom board, but not through the 
iower bottom board. A glance at the diagram will show you 
that there are two bottom boards, fitting closely together. 

Before putting the pano- 
rama box together bore holes 




Fig. 301. — The Panorama Box. 



in the top board, at equal 
distances from the ends, and 
as near the front edge as you 
can conveniently bore them 
without danger of splitting 
the board. These holes are 
for the rollers, and should be 
of sufficient size to allow the 
rollers to revolve with little friction. In case you have no bit 
or auger which Avill make large holes. Fig. 302 shows how 
the difficulty may be overcome with a small bit, gimlet, or 
red-hot poker, by boring a number of small holes in a circle 
and then breaking out the centre-piece of wood ; smooth- 
ing the inside with a sharp knife. In order that the holes 
in the bottom board shall be directly under those in the 
top, nail the bottom board to the top board with three wire 
nails, driving them in only just far enough to hold the 
boards together while the holes are being bored, as shown 
in Fig. 303. Since the 

Top Board 

fits over the side-pieces, and the bottom boards fit between 



284 



Rainy Day Ideas. 



the side-pieces, it is evident that the bottom boards are 
shorter than the top board by just the width of the two 
side-pieces. Be careful to allow for this width at the ends, 
when you nail the boards together, as shown in Fig. 303. 

After the holes are 
bored through the two 
boards, nail the top board 
and bottom boards in 
place, as shown in Fig. 
301. 

You must, of course, 
put the bottom board 
with the holes in it, on top 
of the bottom board without the holes. This will give two 
sockets, in which to rest and turn the ends of the rollers. 




Make the Rollers of Broomsticks, 

ii you can secure nothing better, but if you can find some 
old window-shade rollers they will probably be an improve- 
ment on the broomsticks, as they have metal sockets in 
which they will turn with much less friction than in the 
wooden ones described above. 

The rollers should both be of sufficient length to allow 
a convenient amount of stick to protrude from the top of 
the box, as is shown in Fig. 296. 



A Crank or Windlass 

handle, of some kind, is necessary to turn the rollers, and 
Figs. 304 to 311 show how such handles may be made. 

If you wish a comic panorama you have at your disposal 
a vast amount of material. The gorgeously-colored comic 



A Panorama Show. 



285 



prints of to-day lend themselves readily to the process of 
picture-making with paste-pot and shears, and all sorts of 
funny combinations can be produced, which will delight the 










HEAD PIECE 
TO CRANK 




Figs. 304-311. 



audience, and, best of all, furnish indoor amusement and 
work for the reader when the weather is so boisterous, wet, 
and sloppy that there is no chance of fun out-of-doors, and 



286 



Rainy Day Ideas, 



there are many such days, between January and May, each 
year. 

When all is done, paint some 



Big Show-Bills, 

to hang in the hallway, to be read and admired by the 
guests. Set the frame stage upon a small table, with the 
panorama box close against it ; over the frame a small piece 
of dark cloth may be thrown, to be removed when the show 
begins. 

The candles may be set upon a narrow strip of board, in 
front of the stage, and if you drive nails in groups of three, 
along the board, you will discover that the nails will hold 

the candles secure, as shown 
in the arrangement of the 
footlights in Fig. 312. 

In front of each candle 
set 

A Square Piece of Tin 




IN THI5 WAY 
^ARRANGE the FOOTLIGHTS 



bent to a curve, and with 

the concave side next to the 

^'^- 312. candle, to act as a reflector, 

and the convex side next to the audience. The outsides 

should be painted dark red, to match the frame and conceal 

the light. 

At the appointed time 



Turn Out All the Lights 

in the room, light the footlights, and remove the cloth from 
the box, displaying the first scene. 



A Panorama Show. 287 

One boy should stand in front, as lecturer, and explain 
the different pictures, and another boy stand behind the 
curtain, winding up the paper as directed by the lecturer. 
The audience will have a good time, in proportion to the 
fun the lecturer puts in his talk, and all will enjoy the show 
to 

THE END. 



INDEX 



i 



INDEX 



Ancient mariners, 5 

Animals, kindness to, ^3^ 34 

Ape, evolution of, 234 

"Arab steed," how to make an, 254 

Army, to make a pasteboard, 217 

Artificial water, 206 

Aviary, how to make a back-yard, 63 

Axe, tree-top club-house built with, 10 

Axles, car- wheel, 172 

B 

Bantam coops, 55 

Beard, Frank, 224 

Beard, Santa Claus's, 249 

Bed, Daniel Boone cabin, 123 ; Lin- 
coln, 124 

Binders, to make water club-house 
foundation, loi 

Birds, 63 

Bonbon box, the cabbage, 265 

Buffalo, to make a herd of, 276 

Bugles, wooden, 141 

Building material, house-boat, 150 

Bumpers, house-boat, 155 

Bunks, house-boat, 164 

Burgoo, Kentucky, 107; ingredients 
of a, 109 ; how to cook a, 109 

Burgoo master, 108, 109 

Bridge of matches, 206 

Bridle, to make a, 274 



Cabin, how to build and furnish a 
Daniel Boone, 116 ; lumber for, 
118; ground plan of 6 x 10, 119 

Cabin, house-boat, 157; street-car 
used as, 168 

Cage, to make a galvanized-wire net- 
ing, 39 ; receiving, 46 

Cake, the "Fake," 266, 268 

Camera, hunting with the, 20 

Camp dress, women's, 133 

Camping out. See Daniel Boone 
cabin, 116 

Carp, 52 

Carpet tacks as blow-gun darts, 264 

Cars, back-yard switchback, 170 

Catfish, 52 

Centrepiece, house-boat, 151 

Chalk talk, how to give a, 222 

Chestnut wood for foundation posts, 

75 

Chickens, coops for, 54 ; need of shel- 
ter for, 54 ; material for coop, 56 

Chimney, Daniel Boone cabin, 130; 
stick, 131 ; Santa Claus's, 238 

Chipmonks, 19 ; how to trap, 26 ; 
food for, 26 ; wire cage for, 37 

Circus, a home-made, 191 ; in the 
attic, 253 

Clam-bake, the Rhode Island, 107 

Clams, fresh-water, in confinement, 53 



291 



292 



Index, 



Club-house, water, 97 

Club-house, underground, 8g 

Club-house, a tree-top, 3; under- 
ground, 4; grape-vine approach to, 
7 ; a two-tree, 9 ; selection of trees 
for, 10; how to build, 10; founda- 
tion of, 14; the vine-tree, 16; three- 
and four-tree foundation, 18 

Coat, Santa Claus, 245 

Cobblestones for bracing water club- 
house cribs, 102 

" Collar," back-yard workshop, 80 

Collins, Captain Bob, 141, 142 

Cowboy, to make a, 273 

Crank, panorama, 284 

Crawfish, 52 

Creepers, nests fOii", 65 

Cribs, water club-house foundation, 
100, 102 

Crusoe clubs, 97 

Crusoe raft, 150 

D 

Dace, 52 

Daniel Boone cabin, how to build 
and furnish a, 116; lumber for, 
118 

Darts, carpet-tacks as blow-gun, 264 

Deck, house-boat, 160 

Door, back-yard workshop, 82 ; under- 
ground club-house, 89, 95 ; back- 
yard zoo, 4 ; pigeon and bantam 
coop, 58 ; Daniel Boone cabin, 121, 
125, 129 

Drawing-board, chalk-talk, 225 

Drinking-troughs for pigeons and 
bantams, 61 



Enihan. See Lawn hab-enihan, 114 



Feather-duster as a tail, 254 

Fireplace, Daniel Boone cabin, 122, 
128, 130 ; Santa Claus, 237, 243 

First Gentleman. See Pitch-peg-pin 
pitching, 112 

First Lady. See Pitch-peg-pin pitch- 
ing, 112 

Fish, food for, 53 

Fish-pond, a back-yard, 48 ; how to 
stock, 52 

Flat-boatman's horn, 139 

Flooring, house-boat, 160 

Floor-joists, Daniel Boone cabin, 120 

Floor-supports, Daniel Boone cabin, 
120 

Flower-pots, bird-nests in, 68 

Flying-cage for pigeons, 62 

Flying-squirrel, trapping, 21, 23 

Footlights, panorama stage, 282 

Foundation, tree-top club-house, 9, 14, 
18 ; back-yard workshop, 76 ; water 
club-house, 97, 99, loi ; Daniel 
Boone cabin, 120 

Foxes, wire cage for, 37 ; anecdote 
of, 38 

Frame, tree-top club-house, 14 ; un- 
derground club-house, 92 

Frogs, house for, 41 ; varieties of, 42 ; 
market for, 44 ; the Anderson, 45 



Games with toothpicks and matches, 
201 

Gnawers, 21 ; cages for, 37 
Goldfish, 52 

Gourds, martin nests in, 66 
Grape basket, wren nests in, 66 
Grandmother's reticule, 218 



Index. 



^93 



H 

Hab. See Lawn hab-enihan, 114 

Hanging-bars, 194 

Hatch, house-boat, 160 

Horn, flat-boatman's, 139; Captain 

Bob Collin s's, 142 ; Wabash, 143 ; 

how to make a Wabash, 143 ; to 

make a Captain Bob Collins's, 142 
House, how to make a pasteboard, 

212 
House-boat, canvas-cabined, 166 
House-boat, how to build the American 

boy's, 146 ; cost of, 167 168 

I 

Indian, to make an, 273 
Island, artificial, 104 



Jack-fagots, iio 
"Joggling board," 105 
Johnson, Colonel Richard, 141 

K 

Kentucky burgoo, 107 



M 

Machine shop, 83, 85 

Making up, 262 

Manicora, how to make the, 257 

Matches, good games with, 201 ; a 
bridge of, 206 

Mice, learning, 25; habits of, 27; 
white-footed, 24 ; as pets, 25 ; food 
for, 26 

Mink, habits of, 31 ; how to trap, 31; 
author's anecdote of, 32 

Moa, how to make the, 257 

Motion, how to suggest, 230 

Musk-rats, Captain John Smith's de- 
scription of, 30 ; how to trap, 31 ; 
in captivity, 31 ; cage for, 37 

Mussels, 53 

N 

Nails, frame of tree-top club-house 

fastened with, 12 
Nests, pigeon and bantam, 60 ; birds'- 

nests in Washington's coat, 63 ; the 

speaking-horn, 63 ; woodpecker, 64 ; 

martin, 66 ; wren, 66 ; tin-can, 68 



Lamps for Daniel Boone cabin, 127 
Lawn hab-enihan, 114 
Lean-to, how to make a, 136 
Level, a home-made, 74 
Lizards, house for, 41, 46 
Lockers, house-boat, 158, 164 
Log house, how to build a, 116 
Log-rolling, 121 

Lumber for underground club-house, 
92 ; for Daniel Boone cabin, n8 



Oilcloth for underground club-house 

roof, 94 
Oiled paper for glass, Daniel Boone 

cabin windows, 127 
Oil-stove, 73 
Old Dan Tucker, no, iii, 112 



Paddles, how to make, 193 
Panorama box, how to make, 283 
Panorama show, a, 218 



294 



Index. 



Passageway, underground club-house, 

93 
Pattern, how to reproduce, for Wild 

West show, 270 
Peepers, how to capture, 45 
Pennsylvania pond stew, 107 
Pheasants, cage for, 37 
Picnic, how to have fun at a, 105 
Picnic box, 106 
Pigeons, lofts for, 54 ; material needed 

in making, 56 ; nests for, 60 ; 

drinking-troughs for, 61 
Pitch-peg-pin pitching, 1 12 
Plumb, a home-made, 75 
Prairie chickens, cage for, 37 
Purlins, back-yard workshop, 80 



Quail, wire cage for, 37 



Rabbits, cage for, 37 

Rafters of tree-top club-house, 14 ; 
back-yard workshop, 79 ; under- 
ground club-house, 94; house-boat, 
160 

Rat, 21 ; short-tailed meadow, 23, 26; 
wire cage for, 37 

Receiving-cage, 21 

Receiving-tank, bath-tub as, 191 

Reins, Arab steed, 256 

Reptiles, house for, 41 

Ribs, house-boat, 156, 157; Arab 
steed, 255 

Ridge-plank, how to make a, 79 

Ringmaster, dress of, 259 

River people, 147 

River-rats, 5 

Robinson Crusoe, 4 



Rock bass, 52 

Rodents, 21 ; cages for, 37 

Rollers, panorama, 284 

Roof, tree-top club-house, 14; under- 
ground club-house, 92, 94 ; Daniel 
Boone cabin, 123 ; house-boat, 162 

Roost, pigeon and bantam, 60 

Rowlocks, house-boat, 163 

Rudder, house-boat, 162 

Ruffed grouse, cage for, 37 

Runway, doors for, 41 



Santa Claus, costume for, 245 ; how to 

make two boys into one, 248 
Santa Claus fireplace, how to make a, 

237 
Sap-suckers, nests for, 65 
Settlement, a pioneer, 208 
Shack, how to make a, 135 
Shanty, cost of a, 136 
Show, a Wild West, 270 ; a panorama, 

278 
Show-bills, panorama, 286 
Shutters for pigeon and bantam coops, 

59 
Sleigh, how to make a pasteboard, 211 
Sleigh, Santa Claus's, 250 
Slipperies, 182 ; war-time, 182 
Smudge, capturing flying- squirrels 

with a, 22 
Snakes, house for, 41 ; poisonous, 42 ; 

varieties of, 42 ; superstitions about, 

43 
Soldiers, to make pasteboard, 215 
Speaking-horn, birds'-nests in, 63 
Squirrel, cage for, ^H 
Stairs, water club-house, 103 
Stability, emblem of, 229 
Stage, panorama, 282 



Index. 



295 



Stag-party, a boys', 263 

Stars, to cut five- and six-pointed 

stars with one clip, 220 
Starting platform, switchback railway, 

173 
Stool, cabin, 131 

Street-car cabin, house-boat with, 168 
Struts in tree-top club-house, 18 
Sunfish, 52 
Supplies, camp, 133 
St. Nicholas, our American, 243 
Swallows, 70, 71 
Swiss Family Robinson, 4 
Switchback, a back-yard, 1 70 



Table, log cabin, 131 ; supplies for, 

137 

Tank, back-yard fish-pond, 48, 49 

Tar used on underground club-house 
roof, 94 

Tents, cost of, 136 

Ticket-chopper's box, 180 

Toads, house for, 41 ; superstitions 
about, 43, 44 

Toboggan room, 186 

Toboggan slide, how to build a, 182; 
tropical, 184 

Tools for building tree-top club 
house, 10 ; for making back-yard 
zoo, 35 ; for making back-yard fish- 
pond, 49 ; for back-yard workshop, 
73 ; for making water club-house, 
98 ; care of, 86 

Tool-rack, 86, 88 

Toothpicks, good games with, 201 

Track, switchback railway, 178 

Trap, mouse, 24, 25 ; the wooden box, 
28 ; the tin-can, 29 ; a figure-4, 3° 

Trapping, 19 



Tree-top club-house, 3 
Turnpike zoo, 106 
Turtles, house for, 41 

U 

Underground club-house, 89 



Ventilation, underground club-house, 

95. 96 
Virginia soup, 107 

W 

Wabash horn, 143 

Walls, tree-top club-house, 14 

Washington, birds'-nests in coat of, 63 

Water-wheel, how to make a, 192 

Wheels, switchback car, 170 

Whittling, prevalence of, 139 

Wig, Santa Claus's, 249 

Wild West show, 270 

Windlass, panorama, 284 

Window, back-yard workshop, 82 ; 

Daniel Boone cabin, 121 
Wire cloth, 36 
Wire, galvanized iron, for back-yard 

zoo, 36 ; for pigeon loft and bantam 

coop, 58 
Wire netting, 36 
Woodchucks, 19; as pets, 27; how to 

trap, 27 ; habits of, 30 ; cage for, 

37 
Woodpeckers, nests for, 65 
Workshop, a boy's back-yard, 72 ; how 

to build, 77 
Wren, nest for, 66 



Zoo, a back-yard, 33 



A NEIV BOOK FOR INVENTIVE "BOYS 

By DANIEL C. BEARD 

The Jack of All Trades 

OR, NEW IDEAS FOR AMERICAN BOYS 

Profttsely Illustrated* Square 8vo, $2,00 



No writer for boys has a larger or more enthusiastic following 
than Mr. Dan. Beard, and the announcement of a new book by him 
should be welcome news to his many young friends. ''The Jack of 
All Trades " has been written in response to a direct demand from 
boys from all over the United States and many parts of the British 
Provinces. From their letters the author discovered that there was 
a great demand for more material along the lines of the ''American 
Boy's Handy Book " and '' The Outdoor Handy Book." " The Jack 
of All Trades" presents a vast number of new ideas which any boy 
can put into execution, and which will be a source of endless delight. 

CONTENTS 
Part I. Fair "Weather Ideas 

Tree-Top Club-Houses — How to Capture and Trap Small Live Animals — 
The Back-Yard Zoo — A Back- Yard Fish-Pond — Pigeon and Bantam 
Coops — How to Make a Back- Yard Aviary — A Boy's Back-Yard Work- 
shop — How to Build an Underground Club-House — A Boys' Club-House 
on the Water — How to Have Fun on a Picnic — How to Build and How to 
Furnish a Daniel Boone Cabin — Flat Boatman's House — The American Boy's 
House Boat — Back-Yard Switchback — How to Build a Toboggan Slide in 
the Back-Yard. 

Part !!• Rainy Weather Ideas 

A Home-Made Circus — Good Games with Toothpicks and Matches — Fun 
with Scissors and Pasteboard and Paper — How to Prepare and Give a Boys' 
Chalk Talk — A Christmas Novelty for Boys — How to Make Two Boys into 
One Santa Claus — A Circus in the Attic — A Boys' Stag Party — A Wild 
West Show in the House — How to Have a Panorama Show. 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers 
(53-J57 Fifth Avenue, New York 



THE BEARD BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 



The Outdoor Handy Book 

FOR PLAYGROUND, FIELD AND FOREST 



By DANIEL C» BEARD 
Witt more than 300 Illustrations by the Author. Square 8vo, $2.00 



" It tells how to play all sorts of games with marbles, how to make and spin more kinds 
of tops than most boys ever heard of, how to make the latest things in plain and fancy kites, 
where to dig bait and how to fish, all about boats and sailing, and a host of other things which 

can be done outdoors. The volume is pro- 
fusely illustrated and will be an unmixed 
delight to any boy." — New York Tribune. 



SUMMARY OF CONTENTS 




The Outdoor 
Handy Book 




BY 

D.CBeard 

New Yo rk. 
Charles 
Scribneris / 
Sons. 
1900 




Marbles — Tops — Latest Things 
in Kites — Aerial Fish and Dragons 
— Hoops and Wheels — How to 
Make the Sucker — Up in the Air 
on Stilts — Bait, Live and Dead — 
Fishing — Aquatic Sports — Rigs of 
All Kinds for Small Boats— Shells 
and Canoes — Hints for Collectors — 
Honey-Bee Messengers — A "Zoo" 
— Choosing Up and *'It" — Count- 
ing Out Rhymes — Swimming — 
Games of Tag — I Spy — Leap Frog 
— Various Sports for Hot Days — 
Tip Cat — Games of Ball — Mumbly 
Peg, Hop-Scotch, and Jack Stones 
• — Hints for Bicyclists — Camping 
Out— Boy's Ballista— "Tally-ho!" 
and Other Cries — Indian Games for 
Boys — Football — Golf, Hockey, 
and Shinny — Turtle Hunting — 
Skating — Stunning Muskrats and 
Fish — Snowball Battle and Snow 
Tag — Sleds. 



From Charles Dana Gibson : " It makes a man of a boy and a boy of a man." 

" This book is praiseworthy from end to end, and will find favor even with those who 
have long since passed to man's estate." — The Nation. 

*' It is one of the completest things of the kind ever written, and with it one can hardly 
conceive how a boy could be without pleasant and profitable amusement at anv time. It 
treats of directions for every season of the year, in and out of doors, and on lana and water. 
One of the best things about it is that it furnishes employment for a boy's ingenuity and 
mechanical skill. It seems as if this book must be destined to an immense popularity." 

•~-The Advance. 



THE BEARD BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 



THE AMERICAN BOY^S HANDY BOOK 

Otf What To Do and How To Do It 

By DANIEL C BEARD 
One voltimc, 8vo, fully Illustrated by the Author, $2,00 



Mr. Beard's book tells the active, inventive, and practical American boy 
the things he really wants to know; the thousand things he wants to do, and 
the ten thousand ways in which he can do them, with the helps and ingen- 
ious contrivances which every boy can either procure or make. The author 
divides the book among the sports of the four seasons ; and he has made an 
almost exhaustive collection of the 
cleverest modern devices, besides 
himself inventing an immense num- 
ber of capital and practical ideas. 

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS 

Kite Time — War Kites — Novel 
Modes of Fishing — Home-made 
Fishing Tackle — How to Stock, 
Make, and Keep a Fresh - water 
Aquarium — How to Stock and Keep 
a MarineAquarium — Knots, Bends, 
and Hitches — Dredge, Tangle, and 
Trawl Fishing — Home-made Boats 
—How to Rig and Sail Small Boats 
- — How to Camp Out Without a 
Tent— How to Rear Wild Birds — 
Home-made Hunting Apparatus — 
Traps and Trapping — Dogs — Prac- 
tical Taxidermy for Boys — Snow 
Houses and Statuary — Winged 
Skaters — Winter Fishing — Indoor 
Amusements — How to Make a 
Magic Lantern — Puppet Shows — 
Home-made Masquerade and The- 
atrical Costumes — With many other 
subjects of a kindred nature. 

" It is an excellent publication, and is heartily recommended to parents." 

—The Brooklyn Eagle. 

*' The book has this great advantage over its predecessors, that most of the games, tricks, 
and other amusements described in it are new. It treats of sports adapted to all seasons of 
the year ; it is practical, and it is well illustrated."— 7%^ JVew York Tribune. 

"It tells boys how to make all kinds of things — boats, traps, toys, puzzles, aquariums, 
fishing tackle ; how to tie knots, splice ropes, to make bird calls, sleds, blow guns, balloons ; 
how to rear wild birds, to train dogs, and do the thousand and one things that boys take de- 
light in. The book is illustrated in such a way that no mistake can be made ; and the boy 
who gets a copy of this book will consider himself set up in business." 

— The Indianapolis Journal. 




THE BEARD BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 

THE AMERICAN GIRL^S HANDY BOOK 

HOW TO AMUSE YOURSELF AND OTHERS 

By LINA and ADELIA B. BEARD 
With nearly 500 Illustrations by the Authors. One volume^ square 8vo, $2*00 

Eight new chapters have been added to the forty-two which have carried 
this famous book to the hearts of all the young people since its first appear- 
ance, and everything that the girls of to-day want to know about their sports, 
games, and winter afternoon and evening work, is told clearly and simply 
in this helpful and entertaining volume. The volupie is fully and hand- 
somely illustrated from drawings by the authors, whose designs are in the 
best sense illustrative of the text. 





How to 

Anius 

ursetf 
' and 
hers 



TllE:AMERlGAN:GlRtS 
•HANDY:B00» 



BY 

Lfna Beard 
and 
Adelia EBear< 



N ewV^r k 

Charles 
Scribner^ 
i Sons 





SUMMARY OF CONTENTS 

First of April — Wild Flowers and 
Their Preservation — The Walking 
Club — Easter-Egg Games — How to 
Make a Lawn Tennis Net — May- 
Day Sports — Midsummer - Eve 
Games and Sports — Sea-side Cot- 
tage Decoration — A Girl's Fourth 
of July — An Impression Album — 
Picnics, Burgoos, and Corn-Roasls 
— Botany as Applied to Art — Quiet 
Games for Hot Weather — How to 
Make a Hammock — Corn - Husk 
and Flower Dolls — How to Make 
Fans — All Hallow Eve — Nature's 
Fall Decorations and How to Use 
Them — Nutting Parties — How to 
Draw, Paint in Oil-colors, and 
Model in Clay and Wax — China 
Painting — Christmas Festivities, 
and Home-made Christmas Gifts — 
Amusements and Games for the 
Holidays — Golf — Bicycling — Swim- 
ming — Physical Culture — Girls' 
Clubs — A New Seashore Game — 
Apple Target Shooting — Water 
Fairies. 



Louisa M. Alcott wrote ^ "I have put it in my list of grood and useful books for younp 
le, as I have many requests for advice from my little friends and their anxious mothc; . 
am most happy to commend your very ingenious and entertaining book." 

Grace Greenwood wrote: "It is a treasure which, once possessed, no practical gi' ' 
would willingly part with. It is an invaluable aid in making a home attractive, comfortaljlc 
artistic, and refined. The book preaches the gospel of cheerfulness, industry, economy, and 
comfort." 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers, J53-I57 Fifth Ave., New York 



LBFe'09 



Oc^^^?^7Z. 



